A Soldiers Regret
by Writer-of-many-subjects
Summary: She didn't want to be reborn, honestly, she would have rather stayed dead. Now a child of two clans, she is required to attend the ninja academy. She has to train in a world where a ninja must act like a ninja, at least she wasn't completely alone. A soul given a second chance joined her in her journey. Now, all she needs is to be stronger than the sannin to survive the world.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Naruto; I only own my OC so please enjoy! The first few Chapters will be short, so please stay with me.

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1

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_"I thought of the people before me who had looked down at the river and gone to sleep beneath it. I wondered about them. I wondered how they had done it—it, the physical act. I simply wondered about the dead because their days had ended, and I did not know how I would get through mine." -_James Baldwin

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Few words could so eloquently state the thoughts that rang through her head as her world began to darken. For all her time in the navy, a bullet wasn't what did her in much to her chagrin. It was a cancerous growth behind her eyes that couldn't be removed safely. It had shown no sign of existing until she had collapsed during a routine drill to make sure the nuclear submarine was in perfect condition.

After she had been told about the cancer, she was left alone with her thoughts to try and digest the information. When the time came, she was ready for death. She had previously lied; her death had been painful, and she'd been blind weeks before her health had deteriorated to the point where she had needed hospice. What she wasn't ready for was a sudden bright light and a woman with lavender eyes looking down at her.

To say she was confused was a bit of an understatement.

Last thing she remembered was listening to her older brother reading her a story that their mother had loved. Now she was being talked to in a language that she didn't understand save for a few quick words that she could pick out. How she ended up in the arms of a Japanese woman, she would really like to know. She would have sighed if she could, but judging by the shocked and disturbed expression on the woman's face she was certainly letting her displeasure show.

She couldn't help but think that not only would this be interesting, it was going to be fun as well.


	2. Chapter 2

2

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A young girl with waist length, dirty-blonde hair, and lavender eyes looked up at the tan man with a blank expression. He scratched his cheek slightly, hitting the ridge of the scar that was across his nose, and fought back a sigh. This girl was starting to unnerve him, loathe as he was to admit it. She was able to keep constant eye contact with him even though most of the children under his care were unable to do so.

"Umino-San, this is Yamanaka Yuzuki," A woman with long brown hair tied up in low ponytail informed him, "She's starting the academy a little late due to the death of her parents."

Well, that explained why she seemed so blank. He looked back down at the girl with a bit of sympathy in his eyes and watched as she narrowed her's at him in annoyance. She certainly didn't live up to her name, _gentle moon_, she seemed dangerous even for a child. She sighed and looked away from him.

"Her eyes, is she a…" He trailed off as he looked back at the woman.

"Yes, she's part Hyuuga, but her father was able to use the Yamanaka clan to stop her from having the seal on her," The woman explained with a dainty sniff, "She's expected to go to the Hyuuga compound every afternoon to learn from her uncle."

He didn't need to know that, but he knew that she told him in case Yuzuki went missing after the academy was done. He studied the girl once again and watched as she tapped her fingers against her thighs in a rhythmic way. She was tapping to a song that only she could hear, and only she knew. He almost smiled at the sight of something normal.

It was a nervous tick, something she had yet learn how to control.

"It's nice to have you join the class, Yuzuki-chan," He said, and she looked back to him and stopped fidgeting.

"Thank you for having me, Iruka-sensei," She quietly replied with a small bow.

Hyuuga mannerisms, ones that were deeply ingrained. The long hair was also a trait that was held within that clan, but the part of it that covered her right eye was all Yamanaka. She looked towards the door where the rest of the class was, and he noticed a somewhat nervous expression on her face. It would most likely be her first time around children her age that weren't from a clan.

He didn't know that she wasn't looking forward to being around children. Her Uncle treated her like an adult, which she was thankful for, and she wasn't looking forward to being treated like she was an idiot because she was young. It was bad enough that the Yamanaka Clan's Matriarch treated her as such, especially when she got strong armed into helping around the flower shop when her daughter went to play with friends. She started to pick at the grey kimono top she was wearing, the Yamanaka symbol on the back had been sewn there by her mother before her death.

"Behave, Yuzuki," The woman at her side ordered in a cold tone.

"Yes, Naomi-San," Yuzuki muttered with a slight frown.

Some of the Yamanaka weren't as fond of her as her Uncle Yuna. She watched as her new teacher, who was easily taller than her six-year-old form, went and opened the door. She grimaced at the sound that came from the opened sliding doors. It increased when she caught the smell that wafted from it.

The children were loud, and all the different smells were too much for her.

She knew that it was going to be worse when she finally went inside to be introduced to her new classmates, but still. She could pick out individual scents from her spot outside. Someone smelt of wet dog and another smelt of smoke. She came from a mixed family of sensor nin and ninjas who understood the inner workings of the mind and had their own techniques. The sharp nose came from her father, surprisingly, it was something that appeared after years of using dog summons.

"Yuzuki-chan, come in please," Iruka told her as his head poked out from between the open doors.

She reluctantly walked into the classroom and quickly surveyed the room. This class had two of her cousins. Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino. She also noticed a few clan heirs as well. She let out a very quiet sigh and stood up straight yet gained a bored expression to her face. She was ignoring the churning of her stomach from all the smells.

"Everyone, this is Yamanaka Yuzuki," Iruka introduced her, "She's starting late due to personal reasons."

"It's nice to meet everyone," She monotoned as she gave a slight bow.

All eyes turned towards a grimacing Ino. She understood her cousin could be considered weird, but she was nice when you got past her way of speaking. She didn't mind it, but she knew that it was going to cause the slightly taller girl problems. Some might call her a half-breed due to being from two different clans.

"Please sit next to, Nara Shikamaru," Iruka told her, "Shikamaru-kun, raise your hand please."

A bored looking boy with his unruly hair up in a ponytail raised his arm. It was barely up, but she knew who Iruka was referring to. She quickly headed up the stairs and sat down in the empty spot next to the lazy boy. She barely sent him a glance and took out a scroll from her backpack. She took out a pencil and waited for the lesson to begin.

She could feel her cousin's friend watching her, but acted as though she didn't. She took neat notes, her characters tidy and somewhat elegant compared to the others around her. Hours upon hours of being forced to write them, by her aunt, made sure that they were neat.

She would admit that it was nice to be back in a proper school- well if one could call the ninja academy that- it had been far too long. It had been six years since she had last been in school, and then another six here. She had been out of school for a full twelve years, but it was like riding a bike. It was a little rocky at first, she wasn't used to taking notes, but then her writing became clear and she was able to write notes in a way that anyone reading them could understand what she was learning.

Taking the notes also made it seem as though time was going faster than it was.

"You didn't even try to talk to anyone," A bored voice informed her as she put away her full scroll and reached for the piece of fruit that was to be her lunch.

"I didn't realize that I had to," She muttered as she looked towards her desk mate, "You usually aren't the type to care, Shikamaru."

"I don't," He sighed, "It just seems as though you might get lonely."

It was quiet for a few seconds and he looked towards her. He thought he had upset her with those words until he saw her thoughtful expression. She gave a slight shrug and bit into the apple in her hand as she watched the other children go off with their friends to eat lunch. There wasn't any kind of want or sadness in her eyes.

"That's fine," She quietly admitted, "I don't have time for friends."

"You'll be sad," He countered.

"_There are two types of people in the world, those who prefer to be sad among others and those who prefer to be sad alone_," She quoted.

He stared at her as she simply continued to eat her fruit. She had quoted Krauss Nicole from the _History of Love_. She couldn't help herself; she had spent far too much time reading and consuming media in her past life not to have a bunch of quotes to use. She just had to figure out the right one for the right time.

"You spend too much time around Yuna-San," Shikamaru muttered.

He saw her mouth twitch upwards in amusement. Of course, her uncle was always able to cheer her up, even if it was just a mention of him. The man was a literal ball of sunshine, something that was odd considering the clan he came from. Shikamaru thought it was too bothersome to be around him, but was thankful when he saw some of that happiness rub off on her. He'd known her as long as Ino, and had clicked better with her than the blonde.

He knew that the blonde would end up being his teammate in the future, the three heirs were very aware of that as much as Ino wanted to ignore it, but he would always be better friends with Yuzuki. She was sardonic and sarcastic at best, but when she would wordlessly share her food with him showed more than she let on. The fact that she played shogi with him without complaining and would make him try had nothing to do with it.

"You think Inuzuka knows that he smells of wet dog?" She quietly asked him with a slight grimace.

"You could always wear a mask on your face," He offered with a raised brow.

"That's too bothersome," She muttered as she finished her banana, "Besides, I'd look like I was trying to be in ANBU."

Sometimes she said things that made him start. That was one of them. Granted, she was usually cryptic with her moods and sometimes it bordered on the existential that typically ended up with her staring at a spot in the distance for hours on end in thought.

"How bothersome," He sighed, and she couldn't help but agree with him.

She leaned forward on the desk and eyed the children around them. There were cliques already, the popular girls, the Uchiha fan's, and the clan kids. There were a few civilians that weren't in cliques and just sat there reading scrolls or eating lunch. She didn't pay them any mind; they wouldn't make it through the academy.

She was able to read people well, enough to get by and work her ways up the rank when she was in the Navy, and she knew their type. It was sad, but she understood why they left. They wanted a safer life, not the one that they would read about in the history books. Sometimes the family would run out of money to send their children to the academy. She came from two clans who would send her to the academy whether she wanted to or not.

She had wanted to simply because living a civilian life would've been too boring. She would most likely work her way up the ranks. She had her eyes on assassination or torture and interrogation. She would be good for both, with her Byakugan and Mind Jutsu she would be difficult to beat. It was a leg up, something she was grateful for in this life. She could use it to have any career she wanted. Even if she was put on a full-frontal assault team, she could still be useful. She could see a full three-sixty degrees and the chakra paths of a body. A sensor nin at their finest. She looked down at the banana peel on her desk and rose from her chair to go throw it away.

As she did so, she could hear the gaggle of girls that liked the Uchiha gossiping about her. Apparently, she was nothing like Ino. That should've been obvious to them, she didn't look anything like her blonde cousin. She didn't have that childlike innocence anymore. She had seen people die in battle, she herself had died and that had left a scar that couldn't be seen.

It didn't help that she had to identify her parent's bodies when they were retrieved from a mission that had turned sour.

That was enough to get rid of any innocence that she had regained in being reborn. The fact that the ANBU that had been sent to retrieve her parents had simply ruffled her hair as though she would be able to get over what happened. She had been treated as though she was stupid and didn't understand what had happened, and it had thoroughly pissed her off. That white haired ANBU had made a very tiny enemy by doing that, if she ever ran into him again she was going to punch him in the crotch. She was at nut punching height and she was going to use it to her advantage. Even thinking about it made her angry.

"A-Ano, Yuzuki-Chan," A soft voice caught her attention and she turned to see her cousin.

"Hinata-Sama," She greeted the clan heir with the right title.

"H-How many t-times do I-I have to say, i-it's just Hinata," Hinata quietly chastised her with a furious blush.

"Ah, sorry," Yuzuki softly apologized, "It's something that my Uncle told me to say."

Hinata looked at her for a few seconds before giving a very soft smile. She got a small one in return. A bell rang out and they both headed back to class, whatever her cousin had come to say she didn't get the chance to do so. She had run out of time, but was relieved by the fact that she would have a chance to talk to her on their way to the Hyuuga compound.

As the lesson dragged on, Yuzuki thought about what she had learned about her family. Her mother and father were married to make clan ties between the Yamanaka and Hyuuga. She was the product of a political marriage. They were kind, but they left her to her own devices, not that she went out of her way to try and foster a relationship with them. Her disposition was cold compared to other children her age. She truly was glad that they hadn't been abusive like some of the arranged marriages that happened within the clans.

She had witnessed it when she was first testing out her Byakugan at the compound. She had been startled out of her concentration by such a thing. It had taken her Uncle hours to calm her down afterwards and he had bought her some Dango as an apology. He hated it when things like that happened as well. It didn't help that he would give her a thoughtful look whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

The academy ended and she stood next to the smaller Hyuuga with a tiny smile. The shy girl was making sure she had everything before the two of them walked to the compound. Both had to train with their respective family members. A taller boy walked up to them, a slightly sour expression on his face.

"Hinata-Sama, Cousin Yuzuki," He greeted in a stilted manner, "Are you two ready to go?"

"Y-Yes, Neji-Nii," Hinata quietly answered.

"Yes," Yuzuki nodded.

They started to walk together, Hinata couldn't say what she wanted to earlier. Neji was someone who would give Yuzuki a stern talking to if they started to grow closer. He seemed to agree with the clan head that their cousin was dangerous to teach. She didn't think so, she knew her cousin better than others would like to believe.

Yuzuki glanced at the swing that hung from the old tree in the academy courtyard. There was a blonde boy sitting on it, watching as the parents came to pick up their kids. Blue meet pale lavender and she gave him a small nod of greeting, he simply looked away with a slight pout. So, that was the Naruto she heard so much about. He seemed truly lonely, Shikamaru should worry more about him than her. She turned her attention towards the rooftops where she saw some Ninja using them to get around quicker. She couldn't wait until she was old enough to do that, she hated the fact that the village was built like a labyrinth. It was difficult to get from point A to point B.

As they neared the Hyuuga compound a single figure stood outside of it. Long dark brown hair was tied in a low ponytail and a single hand was waving back and forth. Hinata and Yuzuki perked up at the sight of the man. That was Yuna, he held a happy grin on his face as he spotted them.

"Yuzu-Chan!" Her Uncle called, "Hinata-Hime!"

"Idiot," Neji muttered and he caught the glare that was sent his way by Yuzuki.

She had heard him and was more likely to hit him for his words. She adored her uncle and would happily decimate anyone who dared to insult him. He was probably the only reason why she wanted to become a Ninja. A part of her didn't really care about the village, but she had people that did. She would gladly give her life to protect it so they stayed safe and happy.

"Ready to train" Yuna asked his Niece.

"Yeah," Yuzuki replied with a smile.

He gave a curt nod to Neji and a happy smile to Hinata before leading his Niece to their training area. He sat down on a chair and turned to her as she put her backpack down next to him and tied her hair back with an annoyed expression. He was amused to see that she still hated long hair, even when she was four she hated having it long and made sure the Hyuuga's knew it. He knew that one day she was going to come back with short hair and make the clan leader angry.

He couldn't control her, so there wasn't much that he could do without making the Yamanaka head angry.

"Go through the forms of the Juken," He ordered as she looked to him for instruction, "We'll see what needs to be worked on."

"Right," She murmured.

She held up her hands and slowly went through the motions before picking up speed. She knew that if she was in a fight she wouldn't have the time to work herself into the right speed, but since she was still learning the Juken she knew that it would be okay. She remembered reading a book about Hakkesho, which was like the Juken. It was something that reminded her of her old world.

She would love to learn the Trigrams, but that was reserved for the main branch. Though, one could easily figure it out through trial and error or watching the main branch as they trained. She wondered how the branch family hadn't figured it out yet, it seemed like a simple thing to do. She would do it in secret though, if she had the chance to work through it and figure it out. She really didn't want the seal on her. The Yamanaka head could only do so much to protect her from that fate.

It was part of the agreement when her parents married that any child they had would be a Yamanaka but be taught the arts of both clans.

If her eyes got stolen, then the Hyuuga would never branch out and try marriage between clans again. She had to train to make sure that wouldn't happen. She wanted other branch members to have children who didn't have to worry about having that seal on them.

"You need to work on your speed," Yuna said as she finished going through the motions, "You're slow, if I was your opponent I would've been able to defeat you by now."

"Thanks," She said in a sarcastic tone and he gave a slight grin.

"We'll introduce sparing," He said as she gained an excited glint to her eyes, "It will help your speed."

He got into the stance as well and she followed. He wouldn't use Chakra, not yet anyway, so that it would be a somewhat fair spar. He moved first and put her on the defensive. She was good with her foot work, but was indecisive on what to do with her hands. She winced after each hit her uncle got on her. Small circular bruises began to show up on her skin, and she tried to pick up speed and hit him back.

She was able to get one hit on him, out of the hundreds he had. She was stuck rubbing at the bruises on her arms and he searched through his sleeves and pulled out a small jar of bruise balm. He handed the container to her and she accepted it. She put it into a pocket in her sleeves and looked up at him with an owlish expression.

"Use it before you go to bed," He told her, "It'll help with some of the soreness if you do, and the bruises will be gone in the morning."

"Thank you, Uncle Yuna," She muttered and her flicked her forehead.

"Learn to speak up, Kiddo," He sighed with an amused smile as she sent him a glare, "I know that you used to be quite the loudmouth."

She didn't know how to respond to that and simply looked away with a slight frown. Things had changed, granted she had always been quiet compared to other children, but she had her moments where she was loud. Those were gone, she didn't need them anymore. She didn't have anyone to yell at anymore.

She was sent home. She took the streets slowly, there wasn't anyone waiting for her at home. She looked down at her sandal cladded feet and let out a very loud sigh. She pushed her hair back from her face and looked out of the corner of her eye towards the roofs. There was an ANBU up on the roof, she had caught their attention.

It wasn't the best thing to have, but she'd rather have an ANBU watching over her than someone who was after her eyes. She put her hands into her capri pockets and continued on her way. She needed to act as though she hadn't noticed them. It was the best thing she could do. She didn't want to engage with them, it might be the white haired one.

She walked into the small area where the Yamanaka clan lived and went directly to her house. She entered and waited at the door. That ANBU was still there, and she didn't know why. She didn't get paid to understand the inner mechanism of an ANBU's mind, nor did she care. She looked towards the small clock in the hallway and let out a quiet yawn.

She was going to stop worrying about it and go to bed. It was above her pay-grade and none of her business. Also, she wanted to get that bruise ointment on her as soon as possible, because she was starting to feel the bruises. Her bruises had bruises. So, with a quick bath she put on the ointment and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

3

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Hayate Gekko could easily claim he was an incredibly lucky man. Seeing as one moment he was surrounded by an inky darkness and the next he was waking up to his white ceiling that had a ceiling fan. He laid still for a few seconds and listened to his breath. Each one rattled within his chest and he felt the familiar need to cough. As soon as he felt that, he jumped out of his bed in surprise and looked around his spotless room with wide eyes.

He relaxed when he saw that his room was empty. His shoulders visibly slumped and he let out a soft cough, he hadn't missed that when he was in the darkness. He let out an annoyed sigh and shuffled towards the bathroom. No sooner had he finished his business his doorbell started ringing. He stood there for a few seconds before slowly reaching into his kunai pouch and pulling one of the hand-knives out. He held it by his thigh as he went to answer the door.

"You've been asleep all day," A familiar voice said with a slightly lazy tone.

Hayate rolled his eyes and put the kunai back into his pouch before opening the door a bit more to let his friend in. Chestnut brown hair cut the same length as his, with senbon between his teeth, and his dark eyes looking around his apartment. A grin was on the man's face as he eyed him from his spot at the door. He let out another sigh.

"I have the week off, Genma," Hayate informed him, scratching the back of his head.

"Right," Genma muttered, his lazy demeanor shifted from vaguely amused to solemn, "Did you hear about what happened to the Yamanaka's?"

"Yamanaka's?" Hayate questioned.

This was new, he was sure that he had never heard of any Yamanaka's besides Inoichi and his wife. He was still a teen, having been twenty-three when he had died, and had yet to have his illness show up in its entirety. Yet, he felt as though he was younger then he thought. He was shorter than his friend, as he had always been, it was strange and he couldn't put his finger on it. He rubbed the back of his head in thought before he eyed his friend, waiting to watch his expression change and say that it was just the punchline to a very distasteful joke. When a few seconds passed he realized there would be no joke.

"What happened?" Hayate questioned as he sat down on his couch.

"It was an assassination mission gone wrong," Genma informed him, crossing his arms across his chest, "One of their targets had a bodyguard that knew fire jutsu and caught them unaware. Their kid had to identify their bodies."

Hayate hadn't heard of this in his previous run of his life. He brought a hand up to his chin in thought. He wondered if someone else had been unlucky enough to be reborn, though that wasn't a correct term for what he was going through. He had been given a second chance; he knew better than to squander it. He could extend an olive branch to help the other person that had been brought back, but he needed to find them first. He wanted to grow a network to try and stop what had happened to him from happening again.

"That kid is weird though, even weirder than you and Ebisu," Genma continued.

"Oh, how is a kid weird enough to bother _you_?" Hayate asked with a slight grin, teasing the now annoyed man.

"She just stares at everyone," was the answer, "She doesn't say anything unless she needs to."

"It just sounds like she's observant," He muttered.

Genma simply scoffed at that and stretched to crack his back. He sent Hayate a look and the brunette knew that he had to go get ready to eat lunch with him. He sometimes forgot how pushy Genma could be if he put his mind to it. He was a bit of a mother hen, but he wasn't going to tell him that. He got up from the couch and went to change, when he finished and pulled on his sandals they headed out.

As they moved through the village they saw a group of academy aged kids running around. One of the leaders was a boy with straight black hair. He was boasting about something to his friends and they ran off once again. Genma let out a sound that came from the back of his throat and motioned with a hand where the children had been. It was easy to tell what he was thinking.

"Kids are weird?" Hayate asked with a slight grin.

"They get weirder every day, I swear," Genma grumbled slightly as he moved his senbon around his mouth.

He put his hands into his pockets, and a girl with long dirty blonde hair sprinted past them and in the direction that the group of the children had gone. Genma paused in his tracks and watched as she easily took a sharp corner and picked up the speed with a strange sense of urgency. That had been the kid he was talking about, that much Hayate was able to pick up just from the way his body tensed.

"There goes the weirdest," Genma muttered before sighing, "Something must be wrong if _she's _running."

"That's the Yamanaka, huh," Hayate could help the slight scoff that fell from his lips, "She such a squirt."

"A squirt that can use the Juken on you," Genma informed him with a frown, "Kids part Hyuuga."

Hayate simply rolled his eyes and headed towards the area that the children had gone as Genma sputtered for a few seconds before tagging along. He could sense where they were, the small flickering chakras easily discernable. The scene that he came upon was something he hadn't expected. That little girl was curled up in a ball with something protected in her arms. He let out a low curse, where the hell was ANBU when you needed them? He sometimes found that they were lacking in their response time.

"Oh, the half-breed is protecting the runt?" A boy taunted.

The girl didn't even react to those words. He didn't even see her flinch when a different boy sent a heavy kick to her side. She kept her guard around what ever was in her arms up. She was still, but he could tell that she was still alive just from her chakra alone.

Genma watched as his friend walked forward and held up one of the kids by the back of his shirt. It had been enough to scatter the group of kids and he felt his left eyebrow twitch. Hayate usually wouldn't get himself involved in academy problems even with how good of a guy he was, so for him to step in was a big deal. He stepped forward as well and knelt next to the Yamanaka that was curled into such a tight ball that he was impressed. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and the girl finally flinched.

"Hey, kid," He greeted, "It's over now."

She simply moved her head and turned to see who had spoken to her. There was a slight glint of distrust in her eyes, but she slowly brought herself out of her balled up form. He could see the bruises on her face as she slowly moved to look at him and Hayate. He was even privy to what she was protecting.

It was a kitten.

A small black kitten, with a somewhat squashed face, large eyes, and short stubby legs. It was pushing its head against the girl's chest in a kind manner and the girl would pet its head in response. This kid was willing to face getting beaten to a pulp to protect a cat? She was weird, but at least her heart was in the right place. It made her seem less weird.

"You endured all that for a cat?" He questioned her in an exasperated tone.

"The cat didn't do anything wrong, why should it be beaten because these boys need to find a way to stroke their ego?" She countered in a soft monotone, getting up to her feet.

"We'll report this to your sensei," Hayate informed her and watched as her hands flinched before she gave the cat a small scratch behind the ears.

"Our sensei is Umino Iruka," She informed him.

She met his eyes and Hayate _knew _that was the person who had been reborn. The level of awareness of the situation and the way she handled it told of years of discipline. She carried herself in a manner that made it easy to tell if one knew what to look for. The one person that he could turn for help was a brat, an academy brat.

That was just his luck and par for the course if he really thought about it.

"Is the cat yours?" Genma asked her.

"No, it belongs to my Uncle," She replied as she met the other brunettes' eyes, "It ran away a few days ago and I've been keeping an eye out for it."

Said cat let out a small meow at the girl and licked her chin. They saw her grimace at the rough tongue before a small, genuine smile appeared on her face. She seemed to like animals more than the child who was still in Hayate's grip. It was with that knowledge that Genma shooed her off and sent her home. Hayate's humor at the dirty look she sent Genma was something that he would deny until the day he died.

"Still a weird kid?" Hayate teased the older brunette.

"Shut up," Genma huffed, "Let's go inform Iruka of what's going on in his class."

They both started the walk to the academy, the child they were able to catch being brought with them. They were not looking forward to the loud shouting that Iruka was famous for. It was just their luck to be brought into this situation. Yet, it had been Hayate that had brought them into it. He owed his friend lunch for putting up with this.

Yuzuki would never admit that the happy smile on her Uncle's face as he accepted his cat made her year. The training afterwards to help with her speed was what she would say if anyone asked her. She was making plenty of progress with the juken and the mind transfer technique. She was moving faster then she should, but she knew the way the line of work she was going into ended.

If you don't train up and work hard on your skills than you were going to die. A ninja was stealthy and could kill with any weapon in their arsenal. Her arsenal was the two clan jutsu's that she had been taught. She knew that she really was a gunner for torture and interrogation, not that she minded she was used to getting answers out of people, with how detached she was she would be surprised if the Hokage attempted to put her on a sensor team.

As the two trained she quietly began to draft up future training plans. She needed stamina, strength, and agility. Her Chakra control would be perfect due to her Hyuuga training, even the amount in her reserves had grown from her training. She wasn't ready to die in her early twenties again, if she could make it to her thirtieth birthday then she would be happy.

The next two years of her life followed that pattern, but she had started to notice something strange. She would run into those two shinobi that helped her out with the bullies. First it was something as inconspicuous as bumping into one another while grocery shopping. She would always write that off when it happened since she _did_ go shopping in a shinobi district and not a civilian one. When she ran into them in a weapons shop when she was buying a basic starters pack so she could start training with weapons, she began to think it was rather odd. What was even weirder to her was the fact that they started to help her with her shopping.

"Don't buy it in the pack, kid," Genma had told her, "It's a bit of a scam, buy them individually."

"Carry a whet stone with you," Hayate stated as he grabbed one off a shelf, "Granted you won't be using it to sharpen your weapons to a degree where you could do actual damage, having one won't hurt."

She looked at her pile of weapons. Two packs of Shuriken, Senbon, and Kunai each and a small dull blue weapons pouch with a blue metal button to keep it closed. She had narrowed her eyes at the color of the pouch and slowly moved her attention towards the man who had picked it out. Hayate had a feeling he knew where she was going to end up. Assassination with some backing in T&I.

She was going to be a terrifying force and barely came up to his waist.

The eight-year-old stared him down before giving a soft sigh. He could tell by the expression on her face that she didn't like it when people were able to read her. She easily paid for the weapons and quickly put them away in the pouch before placing it around her waist with a thick belt that was the same dusty blue.

"What's a kid like yourself needing weapons for?" Genma asked her.

"I like being able to practice on my own," She answered with a simple shrug, "It helps me to figure things out."

He couldn't tell if she was a natural genius or was smart enough to think things through. He looked towards Hayate and the brunette gave an unhelpful shrug. He couldn't help but be annoyed at that, he was the one that had dragged him out to bother the kid. He had to admit that he was wrong about her. Well, he _had_ been dead on when he said she was weird, but she was a quiet kid that just wanted to protect the only family she had left.

She wasn't quite the brat he thought she was.

"Shiranui-San," She called with a slight frown, "If you keep staring at me, I'm gonna hit you."

"You wouldn't be able to do much damage at your age," Genma informed her as he flicked her forehead.

"Ah, yes, but you seem to forget that I'm at perfect crotch hitting height," She informed him in a dead serious tone, "I don't need the juken to do damage to you."

He was able to keep a wince off his face. Getting hit in the crotch by a Hyuuga did not seem like a good time to him. He had a feeling that she would make good with that thinly veiled threat. She was getting too familiar with him if she felt comfortable enough to do so.

Her smirk showed that she knew what he was thinking. Her smirk stayed on her face even when she narrowed her eyes and discreetly looked over her shoulder. Her Uncle seemed to be training her to be able to use her senses to know when someone was following her. He knew that she had a strong nose as he had seen her easily pick out the best produce at the grocery store.

He sent a lazy gaze the direction she was looking at. An ANBU was watching her and he could tell that she was familiar with this operative. She removed her attention away from the ANBU and gave the two men a wave. Hayate gave one of his own and Genma simply ruffled her long locks. With an annoyed looked sent at the taller man she went on her way.

"ANBU's keeping an eye on her," Genma muttered, "After that problem with the Hyuuga clan they doubled down on their clansmen."

"She's more Yamanaka than Hyuuga," Hayate countered, "Anyone would be stupid to even try and kidnap the kid."

"Yeah, they'd get a juken to the crotch."

"You are never going to let her forget that, are you?"

"Nope."

Hayate couldn't find it in himself to feel bad for the kid. This was why people typically watched what they said around his fellow tokubetsu jonin, he had a good memory for what people said. His ability to blackmail people was just as good as Anko's. He typically used it in good fun. He let out a cough and looked away as Genma sent him a grin. For as good of a ninja as his friend was, he was such an idiot.

Yuzuki let out a sigh as she returned home and kicked off her sandals. The weight on her lower back was something she was unused to. The medieval weapons were something else she wasn't used to. She was starting to miss her guns; they were easier to use and a bit more efficient. Jutsu was efficient as well and could be used to the same accuracy as a gun, but she liked the feel of a gun in her hands. She liked the weight, and they were reliable compared to ninjutsu.

She thought back to her first station in Korea. She had been let off the ship for no more than an hour and had gotten drunk with a fellow officer. AP classes and college credits had helped her in her goal to advance faster than she normally would've. The pay had been nice, and she was able to buy gifts for her older brother and his daughter.

Thinking about her niece made her sad, she hadn't been able to see the little girl before she passed. She would've loved to have another picknick with the child or wear another handmade flower crown. Oddly enough, she had ended up that kid's hero. Her mother didn't want anything to do with her, so she stepped up to be the caring aunt. She was used to destroying things, not taking care of them. Sometimes she still dreamt of those baby blue eyes looking up at her from the chubby face of her newborn niece, and it hurt. It hurt horribly, and whenever it started she would start reading the academy scrolls with gusto to ignore the pain filled memories.

Another year passed and she was still the odd one out at the academy. Her scores showed that she was painfully average, but Iruka knew better. He watched as they took exams, he would catch those who attempted to cheat and would take their test and made sure they received a failing mark. When she got her test she quickly moved through the answers in a way that no nine-year-old should, and then would go back over her work and change things. One time she hadn't properly erased her paper and he had seen that she answered everything correctly and would go back and change some of her answers to remain average on paper. She never made that mistake again.

He sighed as he stared down at the child in front of him. Her long hair had a wad of sticky glue in it, something he knew she could dodge as a juken user, and was being kept away from her clothes by a small bandaged hand. Her expression was one of slight annoyance as she stared at the glue, even following its path onto the floor. He knew who had put it in her hair, the blonde boy didn't even try to stop himself from laughing.

"Can you just…cut it?" She quietly asked him.

"You know that if you do, Hiashi-Sama will be angry," Iruka informed her as he already reached for a pair of scissors.

"And Inoichi-san won't let him do a thing," She sighed, "He's already annoyed at Hiashi-Sama for trying to say what I can and cannot learn, techniques are taught to all Yamanaka regardless of family status."

It wasn't much of a family secret; she knew better than to give out information that could get her into trouble. She had simply told him a little bit that he didn't know and give more evidence to what he did know. He heard the doors slide open and watched as two jonin walked in. They both gained the same expressions on their faces; worry mixed with amusement and a lethal edge that was carefully hidden.

"How'd you end up with glue in your hair, kiddo?" Genma asked her and she looked at him.

"I refused to dodge a prank by Naruto," She answered with a slight shrug, "This is why I hate long hair."

Her annoyance at the length of her hair was new to Iruka. He liked to believe that he was a good judge of character when it came to his students. For some reason he could never get a good read on her. She had two friends that so happened to be tokubetsu jonin, and he didn't know what to think about that. Her parents certainly had kept to themselves, even though they were war veterans, and didn't have many friends but plenty of peers that respected them. Every time he looked at their daughter, he saw a child that was going to make it her life's work to protect the village with everything she had.

It scared him to see that in a child, especially one as young as her.

"Man, your grades suck," Genma informed her.

"No, just average," She stated as Iruka finally got over his shock and cut the hair around the glue.

It looked rough, but it would be her choice whether she cleaned it up or not. She wanted to go home and cut it even shorter and keep a long fringe to cover one eye to show which family she liked more. As much as she loved her Uncle she didn't like her Hyuuga family members. They all treated her with disdain and hate. They didn't like the half-breed Yamanaka.

"I'll make sure Naruto knows what he did is wrong," Iruka sighed.

"Don't," She said with a frown, "He already feels bad enough, there's no need to punish him further."

There she goes again, confusing her sensei. Iruka stared at her and noticed the way that she kept her eyes trained on his in a fashion that was more Hyuuga than Yamanaka. Sometimes he wondered if she knew that she acted more like her Uncles family than her Aunts. It was a weird sight.

"Stop confusing your sensei with your weird manners," Genma told her as he flicked her forehead.

"Get in all the shots you can, Shiranui-San," She informed him as she rubbed at the spot, "One day I will wipe the floor with you."

"You are ten years too early for that kiddo," Genma grinned at her and she glared at him.

It was probably the most childlike expression Iruka had seen on her face. Hayate almost laughed at the expression on the other mans face. He looked slightly disturbed and curious at the fact that Genma brought out that indignation from being treated like a kid. He treated her like a mini adult and that was why he was her favorite.

"This is why Gekko-San is my favorite," She grumbled at the brunette who was shooting her a lazy grin with a Senbon hanging from his mouth.

"You wound me kiddo," Genma said in a sad tone that was obviously fake.

"Give me a few minutes," She grumbled in response to that.

It was a threat, but one made in jest. Something that wasn't going to be taken serious by the older man, but it brought her Sensei some worry. She was far too comfortable around the jonin for it be a friendship that her parents had that carried down to her. He looked at the two and watched as Genma brought her into a headlock and easily gave her a noogie.

"Oi, knock it off you old goat!" She barked at him.

Well, that was just grounds for him to continue giving her the noogie of a lifetime. She narrowed her eyes at him and eventually Iruka let her go for the day. The two jonin looked down at the grumpy nine-year-old. She probably didn't even realize that she was nine, she never seemed to pay attention to when her birthday came.

"Don't you celebrate your birthday?" Genma asked her and she looked up at him through her lashes, "You seem to be the only kid who doesn't."

"No, there is another," She muttered as she thought back to the Uchiha in her class, "When you lose everything important to you, birthdays don't seem to matter much."

"You are one of the most depressing people I've ever met," Genma informed her, "And I know Hatake."

Hayate let out a snort at that. She did give Hatake a run for his money in the self-deprecating department. She got worse after learning how to use her Byakugan. Sometimes, when she was training on her own, he would catch her using the Byakugan and keep an eye on the area. The Hyuuga began to pressure her more and he could see her slowly drifting away from them and attempting to figure out their techniques through trial and error.

He was sure that she was slowly working her way through the trigrams.

"Thank you?" She sounded confused and decided to take Genma's words as a compliment.

"It's better than another Gai," Hayate pointed out.

Genma had to concede his point, it was far better to have a depressing ninja walking around than another that could generate a genjutsu by pure willpower alone. The fact that she seemed to gravitate towards muted colors such as a greyish tan and dull blue was something that he was grateful for. Her hair was a bit unusual but not as bad as one of her classmates. Bright pink was a death warrant for a shinobi who wanted to be out on the front lines.

Dirty blonde could be worked with, and with how good her chakra control was she could easily put a henge over it and make it brown.

She bid her farewell to them, thanking the two for getting Iruka to let her go early, and headed home. She walked into her empty house and stared at her feet before taking off the closed toe sandals. She didn't mind the fact that she was alone for her birthday. She was used to being alone, though she was lying to herself.

It bothered her.

A lot.

She walked into her kitchen and noticed a small parcel on the table. She paused and activated her Byakugan and looked at it. She saw no traps and no tags on it and deemed it safe to open. With a quick slice of a kunai the paper covering the parcel was opened and inside was a small charm that belonged on the end of a swords hilt. It had the Kanji for Wolf on it and she couldn't help but smile at that and place it on the table. The paper went into the trash, it had no scent so she couldn't really figure out who had sent it, and she headed to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

4

* * *

The Sandaime of Konohagakure stared at the papers in front of him. He took a single drag out of his pipe and blew out the smoke with a long sigh. He couldn't help but look at the papers as though they had ruined his life. They hadn't, they had just put him in a conundrum.

The papers in question?

They were the files for the newly graduated academy students. He was in a conundrum because there was an extra student. He stared at the paper that was giving him the most grief. It was always the quiet ones. He swore that the quiet students always gave him the hardest time. All one had to do was look at Hatake and Itachi.

"Yamanaka Yuzuki, huh?" He muttered.

A pair of blank, pale lavender eyes looked up at him in a serious manner from the picture of the kid in question. Her dirty blonde hair was past her shoulders and with the way she dressed he would've confused her for a boy if it hadn't been for the highly feminine features and the red makeup that rimmed her eyes, the Hyuuga's always seemed to produce attractive shinobi. Her expression is what caught his eye when he was putting the teams together. She was a bit taller and lankier compared to other Kunoichi her age and was painfully average.

On paper at least.

But from the reports of her academy sensei's, both of them, she was anything but. She lowered her own grades and sabotaged herself in the physical portions of the test. She had used underhanded techniques and downplayed her abilities. Her mind seemed to work like the children from the last war.

She understood the lesson that most of her peers didn't.

Being above average will see you getting killed, being below will also see you being killed, average means you just might have a chance to survive and grow stronger. The more talented you are, the more pressure and the more dangerous missions you take on. He had seen it destroy more than one talented shinobi. Hatake being a prime example of that. The Uchiha massacre an extreme example of it.

She still needed to be sorted, but he had already prepared all the teams.

His problem was back to stare him in the face. What could he do with a girl who dressed as though she was in torture and interrogation? She was too young to send her to that division to go under an apprenticeship, and he personally didn't want to send a child in there. She needed a jonin sensei, but he didn't have any openings on any teams in circulation or about to be in circulation.

He needed to get a fresh batch of jonin on the roster that could handle having a team of children. As much as he trusted Kakashi, he knew that the man was the only one that could work with the team he created for him. He sighed as a migraine began to form at how difficult it was to sort this one child. He took another drag out of his pipe and released the cloud of smoke.

There was a knock at his door, and he looked up.

"Enter," He ordered.

The doors slid open and two jonin walked in, a bit worse for the wear but other feet. He waited for them to give the report that went along with their mission. Intelligence gathering had been their mission, they had been gone for two weeks. Judging by how they looked, it had taken more out of them then they would've liked to admit.

"Report," He ordered them.

"Shiranui Genma reporting," Genma started as he stood up straighter in front of his Hokage, "Subterfuge in the land of tea was a success, it seems as though Hayate here was right there was a new ninja village built. They have adopted Otogakure as their name."

The village hidden in the sound, huh?

It felt like a false village, but he had no choice but to let them into the Chunnin exams. All villages had the right to take part, especially in times of peace. The Sandaime brought his hands together in thought as Genma handed over his mission scroll for a more in-depth version of the report he had given. There was something brewing, and he knew that it would come to a head during the Chuunin exams.

"You are dismissed," He told the two.

Genma turned to leave but saw that his friend had stayed in place. Hayate had been acting a bit odd for the last few years, granted he got a kid to tease- and to all those who say that she wasn't his kid he was ready to prove them wrong biology be damned- and a partner out the strange behavior. Hayate had increased his training to make sure his illness wouldn't bother him in the future, he was a proficient shinobi and wasn't about to let anything stop him. He even allowed the kid to join him in training, granted she just practiced her juken forms.

"I'd like to take a newly graduated genin into an apprenticeship," Those weren't the words either male had expected to hear from Hayate.

"Genin are tested to make sure they understand the basic ideas of teamwork," The Sandaime said with a serious expression, "What would make this genin so special?"

"She has the aptitude for kenjutsu with her background," Hayate replied, "She's made her academy score seem average to make sure she slipped by without being noticed, I believe that with the proper training she could be a very valuable asset to the village."

Did Hayate like talking about his reincarnated friend like this? No, no he didn't, when they were alone he caught more of her actual attitude that wasn't influenced by her second upbringing. She was more like Genma then she would like to admit, it was a bit scary if one thought about it. One Genma was more than enough for the village? Two of them would most likely decimate it and then light the remains on fire to roast marshmallows. He just needed her to be under his wing to train her up, she needed to be strong to stay alive in this world. It was different compared to some of the things he heard about her past life that she let slip.

The fact that she missed her military uniform from her past life brought him some amusement, it was why she liked the T&I uniform and dressed in a style that was like it.

"Would this genin just happen to be Yamanaka Yuzuki?" The Sandaime asked.

Sometimes he wondered how the heavens worked. Here he was looking for a way to get this one child under a jonin and one just happened to walk in and express interest in having her be trained? He was almost suspicious and would have had the jonin put under watch if Gekko Hayate had been anything but a loyal ninja that had shown time and time again that he was willing to put his life on the line for the village.

"And what if she were to want to advance to chuunin?" He asked, "A three-man team is needed for the exams."

No one said anything about Uchiha Itachi and how he was able to perform as a one-man team. He refused to have another massacre happen on his watch. He would make sure to keep such a child out of Danzo's range.

"I would find a team that was down a member and also wanting to participate," Hayate answered, "Yamanaka-San is adept in adapting to a situation and flourishing, she would be able to work in a team with people she had never met before."

The Sandaime knew that Hayate held a high regard for the child. He looked down at the paper in his hand and gave a sigh, he had no choice she had graduated along with everyone else. It wouldn't be fair for her to be exempt from the chance to train and, with what he was hearing from Hayate, advance. She showed promise, even with her grades on paper.

"I will allow this," The Sandaime stated and that got Genma to blink in surprise, "Yamanaka Yuzuki is now your responsibility and under your tutelage."

"Thank you, Sandaime-Sama," Hayate bowed before leaving the office with his friend.

"I can't believe that you asked the Hokage that," Genma muttered, "You do know that I'll most likely help with the kid, right?"

"After all you seem to have adopted her," Hayate said in a blank tone, "Have you informed her of that yet?"

"Listen here you shit," Genma started and Hayate smirked at that.

"We have a kid to celebrate with," Hayate informed him.

That was how they found themselves outside the door of a half-awake Yamanaka with hair sticking up in all directions. It took one look at the hair for Genma to start cackling. It took even less time for Yuzuki to start closing the door with a blank expression on her face. Hayate's foot in the door was the only thing that stopped it from being shut.

"We didn't come to laugh at your hair," He informed her, and she slowly opened the door with a skeptical look on her face.

"I've never seen a Hyuuga _or _Yamanaka with their hair so messy," Genma said as he calmed down.

"Congrats, I'm human too," She grumbled, "Is there a particular reason why you two are bothering me at midnight, last thing I knew I wasn't on active duty yet so there should be a really good reason."

"You graduated the academy and you didn't think we'd come to celebrate with you?" Genma asked her in a sarcastic tone and took some pleasure out of the way she paused to think about what had just been said to her.

"Right, come on in," She sighed.

"You used your byakugan to make sure we were allies, right?" Hayate asked her as they both walked into the somewhat cold house.

"No, you two have very distinctive scents," She answered.

They both wondered what they smelt like but didn't want to ask. She was able to find people she needed to just by smell alone, with a nose like that Genma wondered why she wanted to be in T&I and assassination. He wondered if she knew that she would get bored. She was back to confusing him every so often.

He went down the hallway that he knew led to her kitchen and could smell what she had cooked for dinner. It smelt like fish, he swears the kid lives off fish and fruit. She was healthier than any other brat he knew and there wasn't much data to go on there. He went into her fridge and he could hear Hayate's amused snort.

"Don't drink all my milk again, it took me a while to get the recipe just right and I want it to last a little longer," She asked him, and he saw how her shoulders were slumped.

"Patent the recipe, then," He told her with a simple shrug as he got three glasses down from her cupboards.

"Patent…too much work," She sighed, "It's too troublesome to do that."

"You've been hanging around that Nara boy again," Genma said in a manner that was scarily like a mother.

She seemed to need a soft reset after that and Hayate made sure that she was sitting down while her mind got used to the idea of a motherly Genma. Neither had seen his mother henning get to that extent before and it startled both of them. It was terrifying what the man could do when he worried about those he cared about. Yuzuki was starting to wonder if he had unofficially adopted her when she wasn't looking. He knew enough about her house for that to be a reality. She should just tell him to claim the guest room as his seeing as he raided her fridge like he lived there.

"We got you a gift from our last mission, squirt," Genma informed her as Hayate unsealed it from a scroll.

It was a new head band for her hai-ate, it was the same dusty blue as her weapons pouch and made from layered cotton and silk. She noted that there was a seal for a genjutsu to mess with her opponents hearing sewn into the inner layers. Auditory genjutsu was difficult but being from a clan that dealt with the mind was enough for her to know how to completely screw with it. Messing with a person's chakra paths was another specialty of hers.

She really did get a leg up in this life, she would admit that even with how many people disliked her she knew that she had a form of privilege above her civilian peers.

She also knew that hard work won out against genius every time. She was a firm believer in working hard. Whoever her sensei was she hoped that they believed in that as well. She would have serious problems if she got stuck with a sensei as lazy as Shikamaru.

She picked up her homemade strawberry milk, made with actual strawberry's and not a syrup, and took a sip of it from the glass. Hayate sighed as Genma easily drained his glass. The two had a bit of a sweet tooth when it came to drinks, though he doubted that she would go for Sake. She had expressed a dislike of the drink the one time he allowed her to have some. Apparently, she went for the drinks that had fruit in them. She couldn't stand the smell or taste of alcohol, and liked it better when it was masked.

To the question she had proposed when he started laughing, no, no he had never sat on a beach with an ice-cold martini in his hand and watched the waves rock'n'rollin.

"I can't believe you passed," Genma teased their kid.

"I can't believe you did as well, congrats," She teased back, "I'm so proud of you."

Genma let out a low snort at that as she replaced the cloth on her hai-ate, the cool metal looking better against a duller blue. She left it on the table and let out a low yawn, she had to be up early the next day to meet her sensei. As much as she loved Genma and Hayate, and she really did, she loved sleep more. Granted, them visiting saved her from the dream she'd been having. It was getting close to the anniversary of her parent's deaths, and the dreams always came back. If she thought about it enough she could still smell their charred remains. Her nose crinkled in slight disgust as she smelt something burning.

"Hey, don't go getting lost in your head," Genma told her as he lightly bopped her head with his fist.

"Then let me sleep goddamn it," She grumbled, "I have to be up early tomorrow, and this is not how I expected to spend this night."

"I worry about how you'll be able to even take missions that'll be more than one day," Genma muttered.

"It's called I know the importance; this could have waited until tomorrow _after _I meet my sensei and we could've all gone out for barbeque."

In hindsight that sounded far better than what the two had done. Especially with the surprise that Hayate had for her. Hayate watched as she began to nod off in her chair. She was exhausted, he saw her hands and arms and knew why. She had been trying to figure out the trigrams. She had light burns covering her skin. Chakra burns were something that Hyuuga children were used to, the byakugan could only do so much to help them with their control early on.

The fact that her burns were getting lighter and lighter as she practiced meant that she was getting close.

"Head back up to bed, kiddo," Genma sighed as she finally lost the battle to sleep and her forehead slammed into the table.

She grumbled something but got up from her chair and stumbled out of the kitchen. They could hear the moment she reached the stairs. Ninja's were supposed to be light footed, but they could hear every tired step. That was going to have to be remedied.

They were already making lesson plans in their minds.

Hayate wanted to start on her kenjutsu training, working with a bokken would be the first step. He couldn't help but think she would be best suited for a tachi paired with a small tanto for when she needed to be in close combat. She needed to work on speed and stamina to be able to use kenjutsu along with any other type of shinobi arts she learned.

Genma was going to make sure she knew genjutsu. She had the chakra control for it and the knowledge of the mind. It was the best course of action for her. Stay hidden and then mess with someone's mind to get them to panic and then take them out with her sword? She could easily perform such a feat with the right kind of training. He didn't even want to think about the fact that he was training his kid to kill people, he knew that it was important for her to be able to stay alive.

The two left her house and went to get some rest of their own. Hayate and Genma had their own keys just in case something happened to their homes. It was nice to have another place to go if they didn't feel like being alone, plus she knew how to cook. Her food was weird, she remembered some dishes from her previous life, but it had a homecooked style to it that caused them to visit more. Genma was guilty of appearing on Friday nights to enjoy a home cooked meal.

Being around the kid was great, the food was just a bonus.

The next morning found Yuzuki waking up early and at the memorial stone that held the names of shinobi and kunoichi who had been killed in action. She hadn't expected someone else to be there already. She barely spared them a glance as she put a bouquet of a few white anemone and a couple aster tataricus. The flower language here followed the Japanese version, hanakotoba. She had created the bouquet, much to the sadness of the matriarch of the Yamanaka clan, to mean sincere remembrance. The light purple flowers moved a little in the slight breeze that usually appeared during the spring.

She just hadn't expected anyone to be there.

"Parents?" Her fellow mourner asked.

"Yeah," She quietly answered as she looked at the KIA stone, "Comrades?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a while after that and the man next to her looked at the flowers she had placed in front of the stone. He could smell them, they smelt fresher than some of the flowers that other shinobis brought. His single dark, grey eye looked over at her. She was a fresh genin.

"It's nice to see you again," She told him, "I haven't forgotten the fact that you treated me like I was stupid."

Her lavender eyes were narrowed at him through lashes. He almost smirked behind his mask; she was a sharp kid. She recognized him, how he didn't know. He was sure it was the hair; it was very distinct in Konoha. She caught his eye and tapped her nose with an amused smirk. Someone had an aptitude for being a sensor nin.

"You must be Tuski and Ryu's kid," He muttered, "You act like neither of them."

"I act like myself," She stiffly informed him with a raised brow as the breeze picked up for a few seconds.

She smelt a bit odd. Like the ocean, and ozone. It let him know exactly what type of nature her chakra was. Two nature types weren't unusual for clan children, it was becoming the norm the more that became shinobi.

"I'll see you around," She told him with a small bow, "I'll be late if I don't go."

She ran off after that. He watched in slight amusement before looking back towards the memorial. Her generation of shinobi were a strange bunch, but she was the strangest. She acted like the children of his generation; the ones that had been quickly advanced during a time of war. Too bad she wasn't on his team; it would've been interesting to try and train a kid like that.

When Yuzuki got to the academy to hear who her sensei was, she looked around at all the new genin. Most of them would be sent back to the academy, she knew the percentage rate. She wondered how many of the others knew, she shared a look with Shikamaru. He knew, and she gathered that he was the only one that knew what had been going through her mind.

"What do you think of your cousin?" Shikamaru asked as Ino and Sakura came through the doors at the same time.

"She's ridiculous," Yuzuki sighed, "But at least it's somewhat entertaining to watch."

"What a pain," He murmured.

"I think that's your go to saying," She teased him with a lazy grin that was clearly inspired by a certain jonin.

All she was missing was the senbon hanging from her lips.

The dirty look she got from Shikamaru made the grin even worse. They were brought away from their banter by a loud exclamation from the Uchiha's fanbase. Shikamaru wondered what he had missed, but Yuzuki sighed quietly. Of course, Naruto would be knocked into Sasuke and end up kissing him. That was just the blonde's luck.

She never understood the hate that the blonde got, she really didn't.

The people of the village were horrible at keeping their mouths shut, and some of the shinobi. That last one had surprised her; you'd think that a people that had so many codes would know how to keep their mouths shut and not dwell on the past. It was one of the few things that had disappointed her to learn. She looked back towards the now bruised blonde who was glaring down at the table he was at.

A nine-tailed fox?

If he was a nine-tail fox then she was mickey mouse. Honestly, if these people could see more than their own ass they'd be able so see that he was just a kid. A loud-mouthed kid, but a kid, nonetheless. Even though he had laughed when he flung the glue into her hair, she had caught him looking guilty before she was pulled into Iruka's office. If there was a small braided bracelet, terribly made at that, on her desk the next day and she took to wearing it then no one was the wiser.

It was an apology and she would accept it; she wasn't angry at him.

"This is too troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled as he laid on the desk.

"I agree, this could've easily been done yesterday," Yuzuki agreed with him as she let out a small yawn, "I feel the need to get going and not have my time waisted by waiting."

"That's new for you," He informed her.

"Not really," She shrugged, "Your around me for a couple hours a day, that's not enough time to get a complete grasp on a personality."

Shikamaru was a bit startled at those words. She had a point, six to eight hours a day wasn't enough to get the full extent of a person's personality. He knew that she was quiet, but he had thought she was also lazy. She agreed with him, a lot, so it was easy for him to think she was just like him. A genius that was hiding her true abilities, or in his case a genius that was too lazy to even try. How long had she been manipulating the system? He narrowed his eyes at her, and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She had mannerisms like the jonin that his parents sometimes had over for dinner.

She was going to move up the ranks before any of them.

He didn't know if that scared him or not. She was the cousin of his best female friend, someone that he could call a good friend. He now knew why his father had looked at her with a pitying look, something she hadn't liked judging by the expression that had been on her face. He couldn't tell if she was trying to prove something. Whatever she had to prove it wasn't worth dying early.

"You don't fear much, do you?" He asked her and watched as she blinked in genuine surprise.

"_We have nothing to fear but fear itself_," She replied without missing a beat.

He looked at her in confusion. She had a bad habit of quoting things and no one knew what or who she was quoting. He liked this one. The notion of being able to fear everything and nothing at the same time was in a shinobi's nature.

_They love their hair because they're not smart enough to love something more interesting._ Had been a quote that he had winced at when she first showed her annoyance at the Uchiha's fanbase. John Green, _Looking for Alaska_. That had been something people thought she would never be able to use. She had been quite happy when she had said it.

"Quiet down!" Iruka's shout got everyone to jump and shut up.

Iruka sighed as he looked at all the new genin. It was an odd number of children who had passed. He looked towards the one that wasn't going to be in a squad. She met his eyes and he saw a flash of suspicion in her eyes. It was like she was figuring out just what was going on.

"Starting today all of you are real shinobi," He informed them, "But you are still genin, the hard journey that lies ahead of you has just started."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"I'm inclined to agree," Yuzuki muttered as she rested her cheek in the palm of her hand.

"Now you will soon get missions to help the village," Iruka continued with his speech, "So, today we will create the three-man team, and each team will have a jonin sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions."

"Someone's going to get left out," Shikamaru heard Yuzuki mutter, "Damn, it."

He looked around the room and did a quick head count. There was one extra person, it was enough that there would be one person left out of a team. He looked towards her and noticed a sour expression on her face. She thought she'd be the person left out and he couldn't help but question why. She may have been average on paper, but anyone who knew her would say differently. Maybe one of the jonin she hung around would step in for her.

"We tried to balance each team's strength, but before I start," Iruka continued, "Yamanaka Yuzuki, a word?"

Yuzuki got up from her seat and slowly shuffled towards him. Her posture was relaxed, even with their graduated classmates saying that she was being demoted all ready. Ino and Hinata gave her a concerned look as she passed by. They had come to the same conclusion that she and Shikamaru had.

The two left the room and they could hear the dull roar of students murmuring. He closed the door behind them and watched as she looked up at him. Her eyes were serious and betrayed her relaxed posture. She was too ready to become a ninja. She was too ready for this line of work for it to be normal.

"You were accepted under an apprenticeship with a Tokubetsu Jonin named Gekko Hayate," He informed her, "Congratulations, Yuzuki-Chan."

"Thank you, Iruka-Sensei," She muttered with a light pink dusting her cheeks.

Honestly, if she hadn't been reborn as a child along side the generation she had she would be chasing this man down. How the hell did someone have such a pure smile? Where was he when she was still an adult in her previous life? Honestly, where were most of these guys? Using the byakugan did have a backlash.

She could understand the absolute craze around a Hatake Kakashi. He was a very pretty man and she was so confused. How the hell did so many good people make some weird looking kids? She supposed it was a good thing that she wasn't into the other kids. She wasn't sure about that. She herself was still a kid, but didn't like any of the ones around her. She liked the adults around her more than the children.

It was confusing how reincarnation worked, especially when you remember everything.

"Yuzuki-chan?" Iruka asked.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something," She said with a small smile, "I'll see you around, Iruka-Sensei."

He let out a sigh as she headed out the doors of the academy. He was letting a child who would do better on a three-man squad go into an apprenticeship with someone who was going to teach her how to use a dangerous weapon. He wondered if she was going to have to go through the same D-Rank missions as the rest of her peers. He didn't know how it was going to work. It hadn't been done in years.

Even then, most apprenticeships were taken when the ninja was a chuunin.

Yuzuki activated her byakugan and watched as Iruka stood there for a few seconds before going back into the classroom. She let out an interested hum before deactivating it. She was silent about it; she had learned that shouting out one's attack only gave your enemy your location. She had worked so hard to stay quiet when doing a jutsu.

Now, to find her _sensei_. Or would it be _shishou_? Great, he's changed the formula and she didn't know what to call him anymore. It annoyed her more than she would like to admit. Then again, he had given up having a relationship to train up for a future event. She felt bad for him, he was a nice guy. The fact that he was easy on the eyes went without saying.

She was brought back to her earliest annoyance. What the hell was up with the previous generations? No one should be that nice or desirable. She was in quite the conundrum, wasn't she? She let out a sigh.

Somewhere in the Hokage's office the Sandaime let out a sneeze.

She took in a short breath through her nose and began to weave through the crowds of Konoha. She could make out the scent of her Shishou and Genma. Those two were attached at the hip, and all they had been back in the previous timeline -something she and Hayate were beginning to call his first run- was friends. Distant friends at that. She came across the two brunettes and sent them her best glare.

Genma felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Someone was sending killing intent their way; it wasn't much but enough to get his body to react. He turned and saw a familiar head of dirty blonde hair and a pair of byakugan staring them down. Oh shit, he didn't even realize that she could have killing intent. He turned around and put the tomato in his hand down.

"You've made her mad," Genma quietly informed his friend.

"I know," Hayate gave a quiet chuckle before giving a slight cough.

"You owe me one hell of an explanation and lunch," Yuzuki informed him in a polite way.

The fact that she hadn't released her byakugan was telling that she was feeling less than polite. Hayate and Genma shared a look and Genma shrugged. He wasn't the one who pissed off his kid. He found that she was hard to piss off. Waking her up in the middle of the night and then not informing her of the fact that she was being taken under their wing. Yeah, he can't blame her for being mad.

"Barbeque?" Hayate questioned her.

She simply slumped at that and the killing intent was gone. She gave him a look and followed behind the two as they went to a barbeque restaurant. It was one of the Akimichi restaurants. One that had fish available to those that liked it more than beef.

As the food cooked, under Genma's watchful eyes, Hayate gave her a quick explanation. There wasn't much to explain, and she had already realized that she would most likely not end up on a team. Average sometimes didn't work out, but she had expected a few others to graduate. It didn't happen, two of her classmates had to redo the year. She couldn't imagine doing another year at the academy, she hated doing the years she had to.

"So, what's next, _Shishou?_" She asked him, teasing him a bit with his new title.

"Yeah, _Shishou_?" Genma muttered with a grin.

"Knock it off you two," Hayate grumbled, "We'll begin training and missions tomorrow."

She looked as though she was looking forward to that. Hayate needed to find his old bokken. He had them sealed up in a scroll somewhere in his apartment. He just needed to find them. He knew that she had a summoning scroll that she needed to sign a contract with her father's summons. He didn't even know what that summons had been, she never told him.

Yuzuki grabbed a piece of her grilled fish and placed it on her rice. She ate a bite with a small smile on her face. She really enjoyed fish; she couldn't help it. She got used to sea food because of all the different ports she had been to. They finished their lunch and split up.

"Things are getting interesting," She muttered as she watched her "friend" from earlier jump across some roofs.

She smirked to herself and continued to walk home, her hands in the pockets of her pants.


	5. Chapter 5

5

* * *

As Yuzuki stood in cold ankle-deep water with a stick in her hand she had to wonder. What was the point of D-Rank missions? What did they build exactly? Hayate made sure that she was training to and from the missions, but for other genin? They didn't have someone who wanted them to live past fifteen.

Granted, as thankful as she was, she didn't like having to dodge weapons while trying to run to places. The water stinging the small shallow cuts on her legs was a reminded for her to run faster. She sighed and continued to pick up the litter in the water. She couldn't believe that there was so much trash in the river. Didn't people know what trash in the water could do to the water supply?

They were lucky that this was a D-Rank mission and as such there was always someone to pick it up.

She looked over to Hayate and watched as he moved through his katas with a katana. She shook her head and went back to working on picking up the trash. She was starting to wonder how long she had to be out here. Was this a three-hour mission? She felt her shoulders slump as she picked up a rusty can. She dropped it into the wicker basket strapped to her bag and moved up-river where it was a bit deeper.

She had cleaned most of the river near the waterfall but didn't want to get too close to the raging waters. She didn't know water walking or tree climbing yet, so going near that waterfall was like a death sentence. She didn't want to drown, being pulled under the water at that speed would be difficult if not impossible to get back to the surface. She could feel a chill go down her spine at the idea of drowning. It wasn't her first choice for ways to die.

"You have an hour left to go," Hayate let her know.

He got a low whoop from her and he smirked. He knew that she hated D-Rank missions, but she needed to rack up as many as she could. Doing a bunch of D-Ranks and then taking on C-Ranks was the best way to make sure that one was recommended for the jonin exams. He would most likely see her go all the way to the top, like Hatake. Well, since she was technically an adult she had to know what she was doing.

At least, he hoped she knew what she was doing.

Sometimes he wondered. Those times were when they were doing their training on their way to the mission contacts made him wonder. He liked being able to get some training of his own in as well, and she should be glad he wasn't Gai. He wasn't making a mini-him, though that wasn't the worse idea imaginable if he was being honest. A second Gai was scary, a second him or Genma wasn't.

Well, if he thought about it a second Genma was a terrifying thought.

He finished with his katas and turned to his student. She had moved further upstream and was picking up trash as she went. She paused for a few seconds and watched as a few fish swam past her, a look of nostalgia on her face. Certain things did that, one time it was flowers and now fish. She was strange, that was for sure. He didn't mind it; she was a breath of fresh air for this generation.

She took their chosen profession seriously. Which was good. She treated it like her past profession, which was a mistake. Sure, there were similarities, but it was different overall. The weapons she described had made the job she'd done easier. They couldn't even tap into their chakra and use it in her world. When she had first felt her own chakra, she thought she was dying. A deep ocean with lightning rolling over the surface, is how she described it.

At least he knew her natures. Lightning and water. He could work with water, but lightning…there was only one other ninja in the village that had a lightning release and he really didn't want to go to Hatake of all people for help with _his _student. Knowing her she would worm her way into Hatake's good graces and end up with the Chidori or something similar. Now that was a terrifying thought.

If she could mold her chakra to a blade then she could do considerable damage that way and be able to use her primary nature with ease. She'd be a right terror, and possibly gain as much infamy as one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. He couldn't help but be slightly amused by that thought. A pint-sized swordswoman going against some of the strongest in the world? She would probably hit him for thinking that if he were to ever voice it.

He looked down at the clock he had brought and then placed on a smooth rock and let out a sigh. If he was a mean person he'd make her stay in the river for another thirty minutes. He let out a shrill whistle and she looked up with a large can on the end of her stick, pouring water on her head. She put it in the basket and started to wade out of the water. She had to tie a lid to the basket before she dropped it at a waste receptacle in the area.

She looked at him and he held up a kunai. It didn't take her long to start running at the silent threat. She was getting better at dodging, but when one went past her cheek and she sped up he started to wonder if he was overdoing it. When she looked back at him in annoyance he wondered if she wasn't a mind reader. Granted, the Yamanaka's did technically do that if they went into torture and interrogation. She was giving him a look not to go easy on her.

Perhaps she did know the importance of her line of work.

He could work with this. He drew out another Kunai and tossed it at her. She ducked down and he saw a few strands of hair flying in the air. She was very good at not activating the Byakugan as per his instruction, if she got used to that crutch then she would be a sitting duck. There was a blind spot with the byakugan. He smirked as she did another last-minute dodge to a kunai sent at her head.

"You are an oni," She grumbled to him after a few days of training, "You look like a good-looking guy, but _you _are the true definition of evil."

"Flirting won't get you anywhere," He informed her in an amused tone a smirk appearing on his face.

"Give me a few more years," She hissed at him, her cheeks a pale pink, "I might end up taller than you, I could throw you."

He looked down at her as she tried to catch her breath after running through the streets of Konoha. It was a training day, no missions just training. He was dressed in a simple pair of shinobi pants and a short-sleeved shirt. She was in a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. They were in the same color scheme of dusty blue.

"I would pay to see that," Hayate informed her.

She gave him a glare before reaching up to wipe at the sweat going down her face. Her hitai-ate was in her hand and she went back to trying to catch her breath. She was going to be feeling the burn for the rest of the day. Twenty laps around Konoha- the village was ginormous, but not as big as the city she had originally come from, San Diego had been even bigger- a hundred and fifty pushups, a hundred crunches, and then a hundred pull ups. She couldn't feel her body at this point and was just doing what he asked her to do. Honestly, she didn't have the energy to fight back. It was like boot camp all over again.

"What did you even used to look like?" He asked her.

She stared at him for a few seconds before holding up two fingers and performed a henge. In front of him was a tall woman with extremely short mahogany brown hair and kind blue eyes. He stared at her for a few seconds as his mind processed what she had looked like. She gained a small smile and her eyes lit up.

"You seem surprised, Shishou," She teased.

She even remembered the way her voice sounded. He swallowed thickly and looked away. She had been a very pretty woman, even with her strange accent. She looked around as though she had missed being the height she remembered. She did, she had liked being tall and sometimes she could tell that her past life was influencing her new body. The long pianist fingers were a fitting example of that.

"You look like you had been the same age as I was," He muttered.

"Yeah, except from what you've told me you're younger than you should be," She replied as she dropped the illusion, "You were what, twenty-three in the original timeline?"

He let out a hum at her words and she stretched. The two paused in their conversation as a green clad man easily sprinted past him, a small green blur went by as well. They watched as a female with twin buns on her head ran past huffing, and an awfully familiar Hyuuga ran past with ease. Hayate spared a glance at his student and noticed the glare on her face. She had a problem with her cousin, he was such a brat compared to how he had been.

"You know, that gives me an idea," Hayate informed her.

"I'm not wearing a jumpsuit," She immediately informed him with a glare.

If he wasn't so sure that she would kill him, that's exactly what he would say. He sighed at that and looked to the side with an amused grin on his face. He could feel her slowly releasing killer intent due to his obvious amusement. He let out a soft cough and that killing intent changed to worry. She sighed quietly and dug around her weapons pouch for something. She brought out a cough drop and handed it to him.

"Here," She muttered, "It'll help somewhat."

He accepted it with a raised brow. She was hanging around the Hyuuga compound again if she was getting medicine in her possession that wasn't easily accessible at the hospital. She eyed him until he popped it into his mouth. Her expression relaxed and she turned her attention back towards the village to look at the houses.

"We need to make a quick stop." He informed her and she turned back to him with a skeptical look.

A half an hour later found a smirking Hayate and a slowly moving Yuzuki. She was trying to walk like normal, but the weights around her limbs were making it impossible. He had started her on fifteen pounds. She let out a huff as she brought her arms up to open the door for the sushi bar that they typically ate at.

Sometimes she wondered why Konoha didn't trade with Kirigakure or Wave to get fresh fish. Sealing scrolls would help keep everything fresh, it would be like keeping a corpse fresh for figuring out its secrets. Hayate had her read up on the several types of nin, he was helping her get to her goal of torture and interrogation. He knew where she would flourish.

"This isn't funny, _Shishou_," She hissed at him as she saw his slight grin.

He started to chuckle as she sat down at a table and placed her arms on the surface with a distinct thump. She hissed in slight pain as her skin made contact. He almost felt bad for her, but she needed to have some ability to train and form some muscle. She needed to be as strong as possible to survive the chuunin exam. Even if she didn't get the promotion, he knew that she would try her best.

She was going to wipe the floor with them, he would make sure of it.

He needed to set a rule not to kill the other opponents. Maim, yes. Kill, no. He reached up with a hand and ruffled her hair. She grumbled at him as a waitress brought them their usual drink. Matcha and Matcha, they were a strange match. They meshed well together, that much he hadn't been expecting. He thought that she would fight him the entire time, but she had shut her mouth and followed orders. Sometimes he saw her questioning his methods, and then he would throw a kunai her way and she would roll out of his reach.

He needed her to start dodging better and using a kunai to parry them. He had yet to start on teaching her kenjutsu. He was waiting until she finished another week of D-Ranks until he started on that type of training. A week of D-Ranks with weights on? He was going to have to teach her how to increase the weights on her limbs with chakra. She was set at the fifteen-pound limit and that seemed to make her slower than usual.

"I don't like that glint in your eyes," She informed him.

He wasn't even aware that he had gained a glint in his eyes. He looked down at her and noticed that she was face down. He narrowed his eyes and caught her shrugging. She moved her face to where he could see the veins around her eyes. She had activated her dojutsu with such ease, sometimes it surprised him that she couldn't use chakra in her past life. Judging by the amount of muscle that had been on her, she hadn't really needed it.

"I think at the end of the month, we'll take on a C-Rank mission," He informed her.

"Ah yes, the end of June, right?" She asked him as she frowned, "Sounds good to me."

She typically made food on the fourth of July and he never really understood why. He knew that Genma didn't complain, even though the date did confuse him as well. Free food was free food in Genma's mind, especially if he knew who was making it. Genma typically liked it when she grilled _hamburgers_. He gathered that's why she didn't make that kind of food that often, she knew that she would never be rid of him.

"Is there a way to get through this a bit faster?" She asked him, "Not that I'm looking for an easy way out, but I feel as though I could be using my time better."

"After lunch," He told her.

Three plates of sushi and two more cups of tea later saw the two of them at training grounds thirteen. It was next to a river and plenty of trees. The clearing was perfect for what they needed. This was the only one that was free, other teams had taken up the other training grounds, and jonin typically trained near the forest of death. Well, more like one jonin trained _in _the forest.

He shuddered at the sudden thought of purple hair.

"I'm going to teach you the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu," He informed her.

"Cool." She simply said, her face muffled by the grass.

She was having trouble staying up right. He sighed at that; she was only being short with him out of frustration. He held up the hand signs and quickly went through them. He knew that she had seen them, he wasn't stupid she was using the byakugan. A clone poofed into life next to him and looked down at her as well.

"Do you need help up?" His clone asked.

A second her appeared and basically sighed before picking the original up off the floor. Him and his clone watched in amusement. There it was, the famous Hyuuga chakra control. She had to be in the 95th percental or more. Her control was fine-tuned from years of learning the gentle fist and now reverse engineering the trigrams. It would only grow from there on if she continued her training.

"Right, now we start training again," He and his clone said in unison.

She became serious and shared a look with her clone as he made the first move. She was placed on her feet and easily picked up her clone and threw her at his. Both became a cloud of dust and he blinked in surprise when they began to spar. Her movements were slow and sluggish due to the weights and he watched as she winced at each hit that made contact. She was going to be bruised, but she had some ointment that would help with that.

"Use your juken," Hayate ordered.

It was like flipping a switch. She went on the offensive and easily blocked most of the chakra paths in his dominate hand. She ducked under his arm when he brought it around to hit her head. She quickly shuffled back and had to dodge as he picked up speed. She had disarmed his dominate hand and gave herself an upper hand while he wasn't expecting it. The clone being thrown had been a diversion. He smirked as they danced around each other.

The only reason why she was even keeping up with him was because of the Hyuuga training, even the Yamanaka training had helped her.

It really showed that her peers didn't take their training seriously. It was a thing that would get them killed. Take your training seriously when your younger and you might just make it to the Sandaime's age. If you don't, well, the market for coffins won't be hurting any time soon.

He swept her legs from under her and slammed a foot into her stomach. She let out a loud cough as she became winded. The problem with the Hyuuga's is that they didn't think to train more than one type of taijutsu. The gentle fist was the most powerful, but if they went up against someone stronger than them with a different form that didn't require chakra. They were screwed.

She rolled out of the way from his next attack and got up onto her feet as fast as she could. She got back into her stance and tried to parry his next punch. He felt the chakra in his left hand stop when she hit a point in his wrist. He drew back and easily got behind her and swung a leg at her.

She ducked.

As his foot sailed where her head had been she looked up at it and grabbed it. He easily removed it from her grasp. She was breathing heavily, and looked exhausted. Yet, she was giving it her all.

He was able to get a kick in by bringing his leg down.

She went down and stopped moving for a while. He was slightly worried that he might've gone too far and accidentally kill her. He watched as her chest began to gently rise and fall. He let out a sigh. All he did was knock her out, that was rather good for a kid. He ruffled her shoulder length hair; he knew that she was going to cut it after the second round of the chuunin exam. Whether that be because an enemy grabbed her hair, or she finally got so tired of it.

He was gunning for the latter; he didn't feel right about the former.

She was Genma's kid, and he knew that Genma would be out for blood if someone hurt her. He did know that this was their job, but he also knew that if it happened outside of a mission then he had someone to hunt down. It wasn't like he would be doing it alone. She was one of those people that got under your skin and worm their way into your heart.

"If you don't get up, I won't take you to sushi anymore," He informed her to wake her up.

She turned to look at him with a slight frown. It slowly turned into a glare and she pushed herself up into a sitting position. He crouched down and checked her head. She had a nasty bump and some spots on her face that were going to be bruised.

"I believe that is all for today," He told her as he helped her to her feet.

"Right," She muttered, "Bye, Shishou."

He didn't feel right letting her walk home half asleep. He easily moved in front of her, her heavy limbs causing her to move so slow, and she bumped into him. With a practiced ease he picked her up onto his back and captured her legs with his arms. He was carrying her piggyback; he felt a chin on his shoulder and looked to see a half awake Yuzuki. It didn't take her long to fall asleep on him. He chuckled quietly at the sight, even as he passed by a familiar head of silver hair. He didn't stop and continued to her house.

The next week went by fast and she was now up to twenty-five pounds on her weights. She was finishing her D-Rank of babysitting the Daimyo's kid. That kid absolutely adored her. The dark-haired child always behaved for her and the Daimyo seemed to be requesting their team more. It didn't help that he reminded her of her niece, albeit a very spoiled version.

"I didn't think you'd be good with kids," Hayate muttered as they were paid for their mission.

She simply shrugged at that and put her money into a wallet that was just a pouch designed to look like a wolf. That was her last D-Rank and now they waited for her first C-Rank. Hayate could tell she was excited to do something that wasn't just chores. She didn't get the point of them but would do them. Money was money after all.

She liked, and he could be quoted for this, _that dolla dolla_.

He didn't get her sometimes. He let out a soft sigh as they stood there while the Sandaime stared them down. He had his pipe to his lips and was studying them. He had a C-Rank that was ready, but he felt as though there was more to it than the client was telling them.

He looked over the teacher and the student. Both were standing up straight and had their hands behind their backs. He couldn't help but think that it had been a good match for Yuzuki. They had yet to start on kenjutsu, getting her physical strength and stamina up so she could even wield a blade.

"So, what's our next mission, Old man?" A familiar voice exclaimed.

Hayate and Yuzuki looked behind them to see team seven, and a cat? Yuzuki almost grinned at the fact that someone had to go and get the Daimyo's wife's demon cat. That cat hated her, and the feeling was mutual. It let out a hiss as soon as it saw her.

"Tora," A familiar pinkette grunted as she tried to strong arm the cat into behaving.

"Trust me that won't work with Tora," Yuzuki teased as the Daimyo's wife came forward and grabbed her cat.

"Thank you for bringing back my precious cat," The large woman told team seven.

A single thought rang out through the room as the cat was smushed into the woman's large voluptuous chest. _Poor cat_. Yuzuki couldn't believe that someone had made her feel bad for Tora. Maybe she would try to be nice to the cat next time she babysat. Tora swiped at her head and she easily moved back to dodge it.

Never mind, that cat can rot in hell for all she cared.

She glared at the cat and it glared back at her. She brought a hand up and did the motion for keeping an eye on you. It hissed at her and she narrowed her eyes at it. Everyone in the room was wondering if she was going to start a fight with a cat. Hayate brought a hand up and smacked the back of her head.

"Don't start another fight with Tora," He sighed.

_Another?_

As if they could hear the collective thought the two gave a cough in unison and stood up straighter. She didn't mean to get angry at Tora, she was tired of the cat scratching at her every time it saw her. It didn't help that Madame Shijimi was a genuinely kind woman, though she did have that bad habit of smothering her cat.

"For team seven your next choices of missions are babysitting one of the elder's grandsons, shopping in the neighboring village, or helping with the potato digging," The Hokage informed the three-man team.

Yuzuki let out a low sigh as Naruto exclaimed that he didn't want to do another D-Rank. He didn't seem to understand that the D-Ranks were team building missions, she had figured that out with the fifth one that she did. When she had learned the clone jutsu her missions had gone faster when she worked together, even with herself. She couldn't help but be slightly amused when she saw varying looks on his team.

Sakura looked downright pissed at him, she didn't know if she needed to step in to put the pinkette in her place. She would kill for a team, as much as she adored having Hayate as her teacher she'd have loved the chance to work in a team again. She missed working with other people, but sacrifices had to be made. She wanted to live long enough to be the same age as the old man in front of her.

And, oddly enough, she did want a family in the future.

"Why do we keep getting the worst duties possible?!" Naruto shouted at the Hokage.

"Be quiet," Their sensei ordered as he lightly hit him in the head.

"Yamanaka," the Hokage said and it got her attention, "I leave it to you to explain this."

"Well, all ranks must work their way up," She explained with a slight frown, not understanding what was going through the Hokage's head, "Genin start with D-Ranks to help build up teamwork and trust between the three members of a cell, once they have finished a certain amount or have been deemed ready by their sensei they may take on a C-Rank mission."

"Oh, that makes sense," Naruto said with wide eyes.

"You didn't understand a word of it, did you?" She asked in amusement.

"I got most of it, Yuzuki-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown.

She grinned at that and looked to the side. It was nice to mess with someone younger than her, not to mention the other genin were all shorter than her. They could use her height to their advantage, but she doubted that two of them would. The Uchiha would most likely use it against her, but she had tricks up her sleeve to defeat him. A well-placed attack with her Juken and he would be down.

"Well, we've done enough D-Ranks, let us take a C-Rank old man!" Naruto yelled.

"He's loud," Hayate muttered.

The silver haired jonin sighed in agreement. It was hard not to get annoyed by the fact that the boy was extremely loud, he was lacking in the manner department for shinobi. The Hokage looked towards the group of fresh genin and their sensei's. They were a strong bunch. Some had their strengths in other areas and were more adaptable to situations that called for it.

"I'll give you a C-Rank mission," The Hokage said, "But you will be doing it with Gekko and Yamanaka, it's a protection mission."

"Who? A feudal lord? A princess?!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin.

"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him," The Hokage sighed, "Come in."

The door opened and an old man reeking of alcohol appeared. Yuzuki stiffened and her nose crinkled as she tried to ignore the smell. Hayate elbowed her and she gave him a look. He needed to get her to start wearing a mask to stop scents from bothering her, or have her try to get used to certain smells. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. That seemed to have helped with the smell.

"They're all a bunch of brats," The old man stated before taking another drink from the bottle of alcohol that was in his hands, "Especially, the shortest one with the stupid looking face, are you all really ninja?"

"Who's the shortest one with the stupid face?" Naruto asked as he chuckled, he looked around him and noticed that the only person who seemed to stand above all of them happened to be the dirty blonde in the room, "I'll kill you!"

He was held back by his sensei who seemed unamused by his actions. Yuzuki brought a hand up to her forehead and let out a suffering sigh, it was going to be a long mission. Just her luck, maybe they should have stayed doing D-Ranks. She didn't mind the idea of helping with potato digging, it would be easier than dealing with team seven.

"I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna," Their client informed them, "I expect you to provide me protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

Hayate and Yuzuki shared a look. It was going to be a long mission. He knew that he needed to start her on kenjutsu, from what he remembered of this mission report they had come across a missing Nin. They needed to be on their guard and protec


	6. Chapter 6

**Someone literally reviewed that there were too many reincarnations…there's only _2_. There are only 2 characters that are reincarnated at the moment and I might not even do more. I had forgotten how weird the reviews on a Naruto Fanfic could get, it's been a while since I've written for this series. **

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6

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"Are you sure it's a smart idea to give me of all people a sword?" Yuzuki asked Hayate as she put the bokken on her back, securing it in place with a dark blue ribbon that was made from silk that hid metal plates.

"Genma asked me the same thing," He informed her and she made a face, "But I think it's the right move, you'd do good with a weapon that gives you the choice of close combat."

"Jokes on you, I might throw it at my opponent," She informed him with an impish grin.

The hit to the top of her head was worth the annoyed expression on his face. She pushed her hair back from her face and shrugged at the length. Maybe she should let go of her hatred for long hair. She knew better than that. She should wait until she became a chuunin to cut it. It would be a middle finger to the Hyuuga can, and she couldn't pass that up. Granted, she only kept it short because she had been teased mercilessly about how messy it had ended up being after brushing it.

Rat's nest had been a moniker used for her hair.

Now that she understood the way that the mind worked, and how to mess with it, she understood why she had such trouble accepting long hair on herself. She did find it annoying to keep back, even if she cut it short there would be a section that would hang over her eye. It was probably one of the weirdest family traits she had come across. She didn't even know how that worked. She didn't know if she wanted to know.

"We should meet the others at the gate," Hayate informed her.

"Right, Genma owes me some dango after this," She muttered.

"Why Genma?" He asked.

"Are you going to treat me to sweets?" She asked with a raised brow.

"No."

"There's your answer."

She was making a face at him and he couldn't help the low chuckle that left his mouth at her expression. She didn't look like a little kid anymore. She had grown serious with age and her height had grown with that mentality. She seemed to be complete as a shinobi with the bokken on her back. He could even get her to use hand knifes, maybe a tekko. Something that could cover her knuckles and help give her another type of taijutsu to use that wasn't academy or the Hyuuga style. He needed to expand her knowledge so she could continuously adapt to her situation.

She needed more information, and she was good at gathering it.

"What's with your love of sweets?" He asked her.

"I just really like dango," She shrugged, "That with some slightly sweetened matcha makes for a good snack during a break from training."

She sounded like an old woman. He gave a sigh at that and smiled as he looked at her. She stretched slightly as they walked to the gate together. He made sure that she always had a mission pack ready to go. Genma had basically forced her to continuously make sure that her weapons pouch was full, and she had a first aid pouch.

"Oh, Yuzuki," Sakura greeted from her spot against a tree.

"Sakura," Yuzuki greeted back, "Your teams a bit slow to get ready."

"We've never had a mission outside of the village," The Pinkette stated with a frown.

Yuzuki looked unimpressed by how team seven was ran. If she was right then their sensei used to be in ANBU. Why was his team so unprepared? He should know better than to treat his team as children, granted they were but still, he was going to get them killed by being ill prepared. He wasn't taking his job seriously. In her world this would have been reported by other members and he would have been demoted from being a teacher, or at the very least in trouble. His charges would've been taken away from him, and honestly she didn't think he had it in him to be a good teacher, he should've stayed in ANBU.

She bet it was because of the Uchiha and Naruto.

The member of a prestigious clan that had the sharingan like him, and the boy who held a demon in him. Oh yes, she knew all about that, the civilians of the village didn't know how to keep their mouths shut. She had gathered that it was supposed to be a secret, an S-Class secret and those that broke it tend to vanish. It was such a breach of security that it made her skin crawl.

How the hell did this place even function if the civilians didn't take an S-Class secret seriously? The Hokage basically held no power over his people. She didn't know if that was because of the council or if he was just too kind. She was starting to think it was both, he may be formidable and the strongest shinobi in the village, but he was getting soft. It was something that came with age, but even her old commander hadn't lost his edge. He had outlived even her.

Wasn't hard to do, with where that cancer had been.

"Something on your mind?" Hayate asked her.

"He was the ANBU commander right? Why isn't his team prepared?" She quietly asked.

Her volume was low enough that Sakura hadn't heard what she asked. She caught the expression that she was sending her teacher. It was a serious one that was also sprinkled with confusion and slight anger. It was like there was something that bothered her.

"You aren't one to judge," He replied.

"Yes, I am , if I had done this to a squad under my control I would have been removed from command and demoted back into a simple foot soldier," The fact that she was still talking quietly and her hands weren't glowing with chakra was a testament to his training and her obsessive control over her emotions.

He had worked with her to keep her temper under control, granted she didn't have a particularly nasty one. She was a quiet anger, but she could throw a punch that was fueled with chakra when angry. She could rival the sannin if she put enough effort into it. She was going to have to if she wanted to live. He almost wanted to see her become well renown in the shinobi world, just not infamous like Orochimaru.

"Then become the leader of the village," He sighed.

"Too much work," She mumbled in annoyance.

He rolled his eyes at that. Leave it to her to be like that lazy Nara kid. He had the pleasure of meeting that kid in the first round of the chuunin exam and then one night when he had made sure Yuzuki got home safely. The two were remarkably similar in their mindsets.

_Work smarter, not harder_. It seemed to be something that both believed in without realizing it. A genius and someone that believed wholeheartedly in hard work, it was a very unlikely friendship that really worked well. He had watched her figure out the trigrams through hard work and dedication to learning how her chakra and chakra in general worked. Perhaps they were both geniuses in their own rights.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the rest of team seven and their client appeared. He watched as Hatake Kakashi slouched his way over to the gates. He spared a glance towards the two chuunin manning the sign in table. Kotetsu and Izumo were watching in complete boredom. How the two got stuck on desk duty, he would never know. He had a guess that it involved a purple haired T&I kunoichi.

"Let's get going!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What's got you so excited?" Yuzuki asked the blonde.

"I've never left the village before," Naruto happily replied, a small blush on his cheeks.

"Am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Their Client asked.

"You have two jonin on the team," She stated as she looked towards him with narrowed eyes, "They are able to succeed in areas where we cannot, you have nothing to worry about."

"Yamanaka-san is correct," Kakashi stated, "Please don't worry."

"Way to run your mouth," Hayate sighed at Yuzuki who simply gave a light shrug.

"One day I will take on the super elite ninja title of Hokage," Naruto informed the client, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, remember it, Dattebayo!"

"Hokage is the villages top ninja, right?" Tazuna asked, "I doubt that someone like you could become Hokage."

"I am prepared to do anything to become Hokage!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the old man, "Once I become Hokage everyone will acknowledge me!"

"No, I won't you brat," Tazuna sighed, "Even if you did somehow become Hokage."

Yuzuki sighed and held Naruto back by his jumpsuit. She wasn't going to deal with him injuring the client. It was nice to see, and a bit annoying, that Naruto didn't change much. He still stood out like a sore thumb, and she was starting to wonder if the villagers weren't setting him up for failure by making sure he was easy to spot.

"Yuzuki," Hayate told her and she gave a nod.

She activated the byakugan to keep an eye out for any chakra heading their way. She was to make sure that no one came to attack them. She looked at each of her mission members and was a bit startled by what she saw. Naruto was like a bottomless pit with his chakra, there seemed to be a foreign chakra seeping into his from a point above his navel. She looked closer and a chill went down her spine, the red color let her know exactly what it was. She moved her focus to their surroundings, the two jonin had the amount of chakra that she expected from their rank.

She kept her eyes moving as they walked. Hayate and Kakashi had taken two spots where they would be the most effective. Kakashi in the back and Hayate in the front. She quietly sighed as she watched the other genin stare straight ahead, or in Sakura's case right at the Uchiha. Honestly, they weren't ready for a C-Rank mission. Kakashi should have kept them on D-Ranks until they understood the importance of keeping an eye on your surroundings. She looked towards the silver haired man.

Just what the hell was he thinking? Did…Did he want them to die? Or was he that stuck in the past? She couldn't tell, but all she knew was that he really should sit down with Inoichi and get some therapy. The man clearly needed it; he was holding onto some serious baggage. This is where the ninjas failed themselves. She simply shook those thoughts out of her mind, it was no use to think about something like this. It wasn't her previous life anymore; she shouldn't think about it anymore it would just make her mad.

"Tazuna-san, you're from the wave country right?" Sakura asked.

"What about it?" Tazuna answered in a gruff tone.

"Do they have ninjas in that country too?" She asked.

"No, not in the wave country," Kakashi answered from the back, "But there are some hidden villages in other countries."

"Konohagakure, Amegakure, Hoshigakure, Ishigakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Kusagakure, Otogakure, Shimogakure, Sunagakure, Takigakure, Tankgakure, Tsukigakure, Uzushiogakure, Yugakure, Yukigaure, and Yumegakure," Yuzuki stated as she continued to look around, "These are the hidden villages that had cropped up in the years since Konoha has been around, these are in every travel book available to civilian merchants, more information is available in the shinobi library but one needs to be at a chuunin rank to read them."

"Hmm, some of those villages are no longer around," Kakashi stated his one eye in a smile in her direction.

"Uzushiogakure for sure is no longer around and one of these villages is ruled under a hereditary system so it's more like its own kingdom," She agreed.

"H-How do you know all that?" Sakura asked as she tilted her head at the Yamanaka.

"I like to read, and the civilian book does have a basic rundown of the villages," Came the short reply.

She paused as she noticed a puddle of water on the road. There hadn't been any rain in weeks, and it was swirling with chakra. She sighed and nodded to Hayate and motioned to the puddle. He gave her one in return and signed something to Kakashi. The man had been in ANBU, something him and Genma shared. Tokubetsu Jonin seemed to be ANBU members only if there was a need for them. Honorary members are what she called them.

The three seemed to move in unison to the right spots. Hayate gravitated towards the back and Kakashi stood next to him, his shoulders tense. Yuzuki took a spot next to Tazuna, her hand in her weapons pouch. Any second, she knew by how the chakra was moving their enemy would show up.

It happened faster than she had expected, even as her right foot moved and she slid into position a kunai in hand while the other was getting ready to activate the genjutsu seals in her hitai-ate. A chain came out and wrapped around Kakashi, it was fast, but he was torn into pieces right in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise as Hayate quickly engaged the two enemies.

She tossed a kunai towards one that was charging her way. He dodged it and she activated her genjutsu focusing on him. He slammed into the ground holding onto his head. She might have over done it, but it was her job to protect the client by any means necessary.

"Sakura, Uchiha," She called out, "While he's down incapacitate him."

She got a nasty glare from the Uchiha and she narrowed her eyes at him, activating her dojutsu once again. He quickly went to do what she said at the sight of her byakugan. Even if he had unlocked his sharingan she would still out match him in skill. When the two enemy ninjas were tied up the group seemed to relax a bit.

"So, was the genjutsu Genma's idea?" She asked Hayate.

He gave her a secretive smile and she felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her. She hated when he did that, but she knew better than to push for answers. Everything would get answered in the end. Even if it annoyed him during the present.

"Sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said as he reappeared, "For not helping you right away, I didn't think you'd freeze like that, anyway, nice job Sasuke, Sakura."

Sakura gained a light pink dusting to her cheeks and seemed to love the praise she had gotten. Yuzuki couldn't help but make a face at that. That girl's love for praise was so weird and would most likely harm the way she learned. She couldn't help but think that Sakura didn't have the right temperament or drive to become a shinobi. Sure, with the right training she might be good, but even then the way she acted around Sasuke was enough to make her sigh. Her sensei should have given her an ultimatum either get serious with your training or stop being a shinobi.

No wonder Ino thought she was mean.

She wasn't mean, she was realistic. She made a face as Sasuke said something to Naruto to set him off. Again, another thing that deserved an ultimatum. Rivalry was good, but at this point it was going to drive the two apart and cause problems. Sasuke was rude and cold to people without a good reason. Naruto was just a loudmouth and far too energetic, give him some training to do to keep his mind and body busy and he'd become one of the best ninjas and would easily rival the sannin.

Here she was being a better sensei than Kakashi, that was sad.

"Tazuna-san," Hayate stated as he gave a slight cough, "We need to talk."

"These guys are chuunin class ninja from Kirigakure," Kakashi took over, "They train their ninja to keep fighting no matter what."

"How did you read our movements?" The only chuunin that was still conscious asked.

"On a sunny day where it hasn't rained in days, a water puddle shouldn't exist," Kakashi replied, "We also have one of the Hyuuga bloodline with us, the byakugan is able to see three hundred and sixty degrees and able to detect chakra on the minuscule level."

"Why did you let the brats fight if you knew that?" Tazuna asked Kakashi and Hayate.

"We needed to figure out who the target was," Hayate answered with ease, "Was it one of us, or you?"

"There wasn't any information for this mission that notified us that we would have to protect you from shinobi," Kakashi added, "Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs, this how now become a B-Rank mission at least."

"This was supposed to be a simple protection and escort mission," Yuzuki sighed as she closed her eyes in thought.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," Hayate muttered, "But these genin are not ready for a mission like this."

"We're continuing the mission!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, "We can handle it, Dattebayo!"

Hayate sighed and looked towards his student. She was surveying the area. If had to guess who was ready for this level of mission he'd say that it was her. She was disciplined and ready to test her mettle against some chuunin, but from he remembered there was a nuke-nin involved with this mission. It was what had started the stories about the new team seven, and now it was going to start stories about his student.

Good, he wanted to take the wind out of Kakashi's sails.

The way he treated his team was a tragedy waiting to happen. He had felt, multiple times in fact, that things had changed. He was starting to notice things around Konoha that he hadn't before. There was a masked figure that would watch the village. He had already given the Hokage a heads up and ANBU presence had been increased. They had seen the figure as well, but hadn't been able to apprehend it.

Something was going to happen, something he wasn't going to like. He needed his student trained up so that she would survive it. If she didn't Genma would kill him for getting his kid hurt. That man had basically taken her under his wing and saw her as the kid that he wanted. He was a flirt, but he never got that far. He would never take advantage of someone who was under the influence of alcohol.

"I have to talk to you, senseis," Tazuna informed the two jonin.

A quick conversation about what was happening, and they soon found themselves on a small gondola heading into Wave country. Hayate had set his student on meditation as the others looked around in amazement at all the fog. She had her eyes closed and her breathing was so soft he almost thought she was asleep. She brought her hands out from their connected state in her lap to tuck her hair behind her ears so it would stay out of her face. He was able to see the illusive right eye.

"What a big bridge it's huge!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, please stay quiet," Yuzuki sighed, "There's a reason why we're heading into the country like this, if we were found out it could be troublesome."

Naruto paled at that and quickly nodded his head a couple of times. Sakura sent him a glare and looked ready to hit him, the look she was pinned with from Yuzuki was enough to stop her. She wasn't going to play nice with them, they needed to understand that their behavior was unacceptable for shinobi. Naruto was easily forgiven since some of the teachers in the academy had sabotaged him.

"We'll be there soon," the man who was rowing the gondola informed them in a quiet tone, "I'll move us through the route with heavy vegetation to make it harder to be spotted."

"Thanks," Tazuna told him with a curt nod.

"Gato, huh," Yuzuki quietly muttered, "How is it one civilian could have such a monopoly on the shipping industry, and no one stood up and created a law stopping that? Politics are weird."

"A law would most likely stop this from happening again," Kakashi said in thought, "Are you looking to be a politician ninja in the future?"

"Torture and interrogation," She replied, "Don't take my griping as an interest in such things."

Hayate could ignore the look that Kakashi sent his way, he knew that some of the things she said was weird. Hell, she was aware of how it sounded to those in the village. Shikamaru and Genma were the only ones who didn't think it was weird and were immune to it. They were the only ones that didn't know that she was a reborn soul, Hayate didn't think she was weird simply because she came from a different culture and it leaked out every so often.

They went under the bridge and through a water way. The brick tunnel was lit up by the overhead lights. Yuzuki couldn't help but wonder if those ever caused a problem during typhoon season. Did…Did they ever go out? She wasn't too sure how they worked; she wasn't an electrician. She says that but she could work the machines back on the submarine she had worked in before she was stationed in Korea. Then again a computer was different compared to a light source.

"Amazing." Naruto gasped as he looked at the small town that was built upon the water.

It was a harbor town built on the water held up by wood beams and protected by the foliage around them. If they were to have a tsunami they wouldn't stand a chance. Even with the technology they had in her previous life, a tsunami had been near impossible to detect or even predict. The movements of the tectonic plates were constant, but even so guessing when a natural disaster was going to happen was almost impossible unless there were obvious signs. She was brought out of her musings when they bumped up against a small dock. They got out of the gondola and turned to face the rower.

"This is it for me, goodbye and good luck," The rower informed them before heading off.

"Thank you," Tazuna sighed as he gave a short wave he then turned towards the shinobi, "Ok, get me home safely."

"Yes, Yes," Kakashi sighed.

He expected Naruto to act up, so when the female that wasn't a part of his genin team tossed a kunai into a bush with narrowed eyes he slouched even more. He couldn't believe that she was messing around. When she stopped and brought out a white rabbit from behind a bush she tensed up. Her byakugan activated.

"Everyone get down," she barked out.

He grabbed his two knuckle heads as Hayate dragged the client down. Sakura quickly ducked as well when a sword appeared in a trunk where the rabbit had been at. It was large and had a crescent divot in the middle of it to help take people's heads off. It was a monster of a weapon and one that Hayate recognized as a swordsman. Judging by the look on Yuzuki's face she recognized it as well. The Kubikiribocho, the sword that repaired itself from the blood of those it cuts down.

A monster of a weapon indeed.

"Well, well, if it isn't Kirigakure's missing-nin Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi stated as he looked at the figure that appeared on the sword.

The two genin who understood what a protection mission was quickly moved to cover the client. Sakura and Yuzuki had kunai in their hands and were aware of their surroundings and kept an eye on the missing-nin. They knew better than to take their eyes off him. With an activated byakugan the taller girl was keeping all her bases covered.

"Sasuke, Naruto, join the girls in protecting the client," Kakashi ordered as he brought a hand up to his hitai-ate and pulled it up to reveal his left eye, "Hayate and I will take care of this."

Hayate unsheathed his sword and shared a look with his fellow jonin. The two seemed to flicker from existence and Zabuza was put on the defensive. They had two different fighting styles, but were able to work together to fight their opponent with ease. A sword slash was easily blocked by another sword, but then a kunai was sent his way and he had to dodge. There was no time for monologues or questions, just fighting.

"Kakashi-sensei is amazing," Sakura said with wide eyes as Kakashi kicked at Zabuza and sent the nin flying.

"He and Shishou are Jonin," Yuzuki stated, "Tokubetsu Jonin at that, a special class all of their own."

"A-Are you able to follow their movements, Yuzuki-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"A little," She admitted with a slight frown her eyes moving side to side to follow the battle, "But their speed has increased, Shishou holds back a bit when we train, to see him go all out like this is amazing and a bit of a treat."

The battle ended within five minutes of the genin being in awe of the two jonin. Hayate had pinned Zabuza to a tree using the dance of the crescent moon jutsu. Kakashi was above the two and ready to finish the nin off with a kunai. Zabuza was looking at the two with wild eyes, it was like he couldn't believe that he had lost. It had been such a quick fight, something no one had expected.

"You…" Zabuza growled at the two men.

A pair of senbon sailed through the air and buried themselves into the side of his neck. All eyes looked around for the attacker and fell upon a short figure. Long chestnut brown hair would make it seem as though it was a girl, but the clothes said otherwise. Hayate and Kakashi narrowed their eyes in suspicion and Yuzuki slowly followed. There was something fishy going on, and she didn't like it.

She didn't die just to suffer through these shenanigans. She really didn't. She let out a quiet sigh and kept her eyes on Zabuza. The man's chakra signature had basically disappeared, but there was still something there. It was so small, but she could see a spark of chakra that was the size of a pebble.

"Thank you very much for taking care of him," The newcomer stated, "I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

"A hunter-nin, huh?" Hayate muttered.

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked as he turned to Yuzuki.

"A hunter-nin hunts down their villages missing-nins," She answered with a sigh, "Though, I never knew that they could be as young as us."

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto shouted at the hunter-nin.

"Naruto, relax, he's on our side," She sighed as she held him back by his jumpsuit.

"How the hell is he so strong!?" He shouted once again.

"I know how you feel, but this is also the truth," Kakashi informed the blonde as he ruffled the sunny locks, "In this world, there exists kids younger than you yet stronger than me."

Naruto looked away at that and Kakashi sighed. Hayate sheathed his sword. There wasn't much that he could do. The kid had a kekkei genkai. Kakashi and he would be able to survive with ease against him, but the kids would struggle. He looked towards his student who was staring at Zabuza with narrowed eyes. The hunter-nin was fast and quickly escaped with the nuke-nin.

"That was a weird hunter-nin," Hayate informed Kakashi, "We should get Tazuna to safety."

"Right, let's get Tazuna-san home," Kakashi told the genin.

"Thanks guys!" Tazuna said with a chuckle, "You are free to stay and relax at my house for a while!"

The walk to Tazuna's house was quiet. Everyone was on edge after what had happened. Yuzuki was starting to feel drained, her stomach was churning, and she stumbled as she walked. She knew that she was getting close to chakra exhaustion. A hand on her shoulder caused her to pause and she looked up. Hayate gave her a small smile and she deactivated her byakugan.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm just writing this for fun, granted I did make a few mistakes with chakra and those won't happen again. **

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7

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"I hate this," Yuzuki stated as Hayate came at her with a bokken, "I swear you are doing this on purpose."

She let out a hiss as he wacked her already bruised hands with the bokken. His expression was one of untold mirth as she tried to parry his attacks and failed miserably. He had taught her the kata's, and she had them down. It really did take her a while to figure out what she needed to do. He should've started her on kenjutsu earlier than he had, but he wanted her stamina to be up to where he needed it to be.

If she let out a curse when he hit her hand, and he happened to smirk at that well it was just an unfortunate situation. She slowly began to start to go on the offensive. It seemed she was finally tired of having her hands get hit by solid wood. She was trying to hit _him _on the hands with her bokken. Well, at least she was trying.

She was doing it wrong. The look on her face let him know that she really didn't care. She was going to try and hit him with everything she had. He felt a slight stinging on his hand when she finally got a single hit in. He sighed and stopped the spar and fixed her with a look. It was a look that Genma had dubbed as his "unimpressed mother" look.

"Try to keep your stance correct, even when your frustrated," He told her as he pushed her legs with his foot to fix her stance, "I know it's frustrating, you pick up on taijutsu easier than fighting styles that deal with weapons."

"Which is pathetic I was the best shooter in my platoon," She sighed, and her shoulders slumped, "That's what's frustrating me."

"Go through the katas again," He sighed, "I'll be doing them as well, and if I see you performing them wrong I'll fix your stance."

"Right," She mumbled as she wiped her brow and slid her left foot forward and began to go through her katas.

He joined her and would bump her arms with his to fix her stance. He felt bad for her, he could tell just how frustrated she was. He could tell that she was starting to feel as though everything was pointless, granted she had him to confide in and as such it wasn't as bad as it would be if she was alone. He could only thank the Kami that she wasn't alone. They'd have another Kakashi on their hands if she had been sent to his world alone.

He twitched when he felt a chakra signature behind them. She paused in her katas and he nudged her to keep going. He looked behind them annoyance to look at Kakashi. Speak of the devil and he should appear, that really fit with the ex-ANBU operative.

"Are you sure she's a right fit for kenjutsu?" Kakashi asked him as she continued through her katas.

He was so tempted to unleash her on Kakashi. How dare _he_ of all people question his teachings. He was teaching his kid skills that would make sure she lived past twelve. He was so lucky that Genma wasn't here, that man would have no problem with beating the silver haired man into a pulp. They both wanted her to succeed.

"I want to make sure my kid survives, Hatake," Hayate hissed at the other man, "She needs to be versatile in the way she fights, we just got her to the point where she could be look out for a long time."

"It still drains too much chakra," Yuzuki complained from her katas, "We're lucky that I'm incredibly stubborn."

"She's got quite a mouth on her," Kakashi muttered.

"And she can hear you," She growled still going through the motions with her bokken, "Don't _you_ have a team you should be training?"

Hayate didn't even have to tell her to go after him, she did that on her own. He could feel the annoyance radiating from her as she continued to do her katas like a good student. Kakashi looked a little annoyed at her himself, but then there came a distant look in his eye. Hayate sighed. Leave it to him to see himself in her. He didn't want to say anything. He wasn't going to correct that way of thinking. It wasn't his place. Kakashi snapped out of it and slouched as he studied the way she was going through the katas. He sometimes forgot that the man had used a tonto during his ANBU years.

"She's too slow," He stated.

The sound of creaking wood was enough to tell them that she was reaching her limit. She was increasingly getting frustrated and angry. She was going to lash out if they kept pushing her limits. Hayate held up a hand to her and she stopped. She had a frown on her face and the veins around her eyes were bulging, signifying her anger.

"Go make sure that Tazuna-san is all right," Hayate ordered, "That'll be your mission for the day."

"Yes, Shishou," Yuzuki nodded and scampered off.

Hayate sighed as she vanished from sight. She needed something to do to help her relax a bit. Guard duty was the best thing for her, she could work on her wall walking and water walking. He was going to put a limit on how much she used her byakugan during future missions, using it as much as she had the previous day had been dangerous. She was lucky that she didn't burn through all her chakra.

Hyuuga's were always pushing themselves far too much. They relied on the byakugan too much. He ran a hand down his face and let out a low cough. He didn't need the added stress of his kid accidentally getting herself hurt or worse killed. He had to set some boundaries and teach her how to sense for chakra without the use of her eyes. She was already close with her nose, she just needed to understand her abilities as a sensor-nin.

"You're getting that kid ready for a war," Kakashi accused him.

"No, I'm training her to survive the lifestyle of a shinobi," He corrected, "It's what you're supposed to be doing, Hatake."

"They're just children," Was the weak argument.

"She hasn't been a child since her parents died," He stated as he looked towards the direction she had gone off, "She trains constantly because she knows firsthand what happens if you aren't at your best."

"That'll get her into the front lines."

"Have you actually taken time to watch how she fights?"

Hayate knew the answer to that and smirked slightly. She liked winning by any means necessary, even if it turned out to be a juken to the crotch. Genma had learned that when she finally got a hit on him, though that had been the only time she hit him. He now refused to go near her in a spar and was forcing her to learn how to dodge senbon and return fire. Let just say that he had to break up fights every so often between the two so they wouldn't go too far. If Genma so happened to get the kid a small stuffed wolf as a peace offering than no one was the wiser. If it ended up on her bed front and center than anyone who would dare question it was welcomed to a byakugan and juken threat.

"She prefers to win no matter what she has to do," Hayate informed him, "She's a dirty fighter, but in an actual fight there's no such thing as playing fair."

"Have you found out what type of chakra nature she is?" Kakashi sounded genuinely interested.

"Lightning and water with lightning being the more prominent nature," He answered, "That comes from her Yamanaka father."

Kakashi seemed even more interested at that. Lightning was a rare nature to have in the land of fire, the predominant one being fire. There was another one besides himself that could use the same nature. He couldn't help but see more and more of himself in the kid. She was headstrong and followed the shinobi code, more than the others of her generation. Those children were far too easy going, they didn't understand what this job entailed. Most of them never would, some would probably become career chuunin and end up behind desks others would leave the ranks.

He just knew that wasn't where that brat was going.

"Perhaps I have been too lenient with my genin," Kakashi muttered.

"No time like the present," Hayate said in an innocent tone.

Perhaps being around Yuzuki for long periods of time was enough to pick up some of her mannerisms. As long as he didn't pick up her habit of humming he was okay with that. He couldn't even put a name to some of the songs she hummed when she was doing something menial.

"You hang around Shiranui too much," Kakashi sighed.

He couldn't dispute that; it was his best friend after all. Of course, he would spend a lot of time around Genma. Sometimes he wondered if Genma hung around him just for the kid, but realized that if he wanted to see the kid he would just find her to bother her. It didn't matter if she was at the library to get some studying done, she was going to spend time with him. He had strong armed her into a movie at one point.

"Has your team learned tree climbing?" Hayate asked Kakashi.

"I wonder…" Kakashi trailed off.

Hayate let out an annoyed sound at that and shook his head. The silver haired jonin decided that was his queue to go find his team and teach them something. The brunette now had some time to think to himself and figure out how he was going to ream his kid a new one. She had pushed herself too much and needed to know the dangers of doing that, they got lucky this time but next time they might not be. He sat down at the base of a tree and began to think.

Yuzuki let out a sneeze and groaned quietly.

Guard duty was so boring, she really hated the fact that she was signed up to do this. She watched as people passed her with beams on their shoulders and gained a bored look to her face. She couldn't really make a shadow clone to keep watch over the places she needed to be; she was pretty sure that Hayate was going to kick her ass for wasting so much chakra the day before. He was most likely going to have her do D-Rank after D-rank. She wasn't looking forward to that.

"Man…what a drag," She muttered, stealing her friends saying.

This was not what she had in mind when she died. Honestly she wouldn't have been upset with a vast expanse of nothing after death. She didn't want to continue living, the first time had been more than enough for her. She felt as though she had lived a very fulfilling life, she didn't see the need to have a second chance. Especially since this life was shitter than the other.

_You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness. _Johnathan Safran Foer had a point. Her big brother would've killed her if he had known all of the things that she was doing. A wry smile appeared on her face. He really would've had her head for all the stupid things she's said or done. He definitely would've gotten on her case about the day before.

Oh god, Genma was going to ream her a new one.

She could feel the senbon hitting her skin. She felt a shiver go down her spine at the phantom feeling, it wasn't the best thing to think of while sitting around. She got up from her seat, which was a beam that wasn't currently being used, and gently slapped her cheeks to wake up. It also helped to make sure that her thoughts were blank.

She had a job to do, and she was going to do it to perfection.

No wonder Yuna thought she was a perfectionist. Some of the things she said or did gave far too much credence to that claim. She sighed and spared Tazuna a glance before closing her eyes and reaching out with her senses.

Chakra was weird to feel, it didn't burn like a light as many thought it would. It was an upset of the natural energy of the world. A person's chakra stood out like a beacon because of that, it was easy to tell who was civilian and who was ninja. A ninja had a larger reserve and as such their upset of the world was easy to find, even from several meters away. With reserves the size of hers, a bit larger than most genin due to the amount of training she had done, it was bit more difficult to find but not impossible. She could mask her chakra and that would make her blend in with the natural chakra.

Seeing it was different than feeling it. Sometimes she liked feeling it more than seeing it. The Byakugan was a crutch and one that she leaned on far too much. It was a dangerous crutch to lean on, it was something that could get her killed.

She needed to stop focusing on that, she needed to focus on her job.

"There's three chakra's that shouldn't be here," She muttered as she opened her eyes.

She walked up to the railing of the bridge and easily stepped up onto the red painted metal and looked down towards the water. The water wasn't calm, no it was wild today with waves that crashed against the pillars of the bridge and sprayed her face with mist. She lifted her left foot up and got ready to stick to the side of the bridge to ambush the chakra signatures that shouldn't be anywhere near the bridge.

The crash of a single wave caused her to pause. The sound of that had sounded like an explosive going off. Her breath caught in her chest and she fought with herself not to be taken into memories that were best left behind her. But she could smell the desert, she could smell the heavy scent of iron and gunpowder. Light flashed in her eyes and smoke filled her nose, she could hear gunfire all around her.

"You okay, brat?" The grumpy voice of Tazuna snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" She hummed in a questioning way as she turned to face him.

"I asked if you were okay," He replied, crossing his arms across his chest and fixing her with a look.

"I'm fine," She replied with a slight smile, "The Shinobi code number thirteen, do not dwell on thoughts that will impair you from performing your mission."

He didn't get to ask about what she meant by that when she vaulted off the railing and slid down the bridge wall. She grimaced as she tried to stick, but the water made the wall so slick. She added more chakra to her feet and eventually stuck. The spray from the waves crashing against the pillars fell on her and she let out a sound of relief, she had been able to stick before she fell into the waves.

She didn't know if she could swim in such tense waters.

"Right, let's get down to business," She muttered as she stood up and started to sprint across the wall.

She reached into her weapons pouch, which was situated on her left leg by a belt strap instead of bandages, and pulled out a pair of black gloves. She quickly put those on before grabbing some heavy-duty ninja wire and some kunai. She had a plan; it was something she had came up with after watching a team of genin training. The girl who she took inspiration from had twin buns on her head and had graduated the year before her, she was sure of that since her cousin was on her team.

She couldn't help but hope that it worked. She narrowed her eyes as she came across the owners of the three signatures that shouldn't be there. It was three men, each of them extremely dirty and she sighed. Bandits, not rouge nins this time, and she was grateful for that. Even if they did know some shinobi arts, she could easily take care of a couple bandits.

She tied her wires to the kunai and then tossed the small hand knifes. They sailed through the air and went towards the bandits. One of the men seemed to feel them coming and brought up a kunai of his own to deflect them. She smirked and tugged on the ninja wire to change the direction of kunai. She was able to take down one of the men, but the other two showed that they had shinobi training. They had enough to be on par with her, but she had years of military training and backing that they didn't.

_Win no matter what, even if you've got to get dirty. Your enemy won't stop at anything to kill you, so kill them first_. She couldn't help but be thankful to her past life's Grandfather. He had taught her everything he knew from his years during the Second World War and Vietnam war. He was one of those people that refused to retire until he was forced to due to losing a leg in the last war. Yet, he still wanted her to live the same life and she had no trouble following his footsteps, especially with that damn hero worship she had for him. Look where it got her, dead from cancer at the ripe age of twenty-three.

She dodged a kunai sent her way and returned the favor by throwing another of her's and a shuriken she found that couldn't help but blame him. She blamed him for her drive to be the best, blamed him for the fact that she spent so much time studying for her officer position, blamed him for the AP classes she took, and she blamed him for her lost childhood. She blamed him for the fact that she never could have a childhood with how fucked up she was.

She jumped from the wall and her foot connected with one of the remaining men's face. His dark eyes widened in surprise at the furious expression in her pale eyes before they closed when his head crashed into the stone wall behind him. She turned and easily sidestepped an attack from the other man. She grabbed onto his arm and used his own momentum to stab him with the kunai he held in his hand. He let out a loud sound of surprise before bringing a spare kunai out and slashing at her with fury. It connected with her jaw and curled up her cheek to end before the bridge of her nose. She clicked her tongue and deepened the kunai in him before flipping him over her shoulder and into the wall.

He slumped and she let out a shaky breath. She brought a hand up and gingerly touched the cut on her face. It was going to scar. She could tell by how the blood was quickly oozing from it and traveling down her face. She brought her hand away and noticed that her fingers were glistening.

"Couldn't escape that scar if I tried, huh?" She sounded somewhat amused by the cut, "A bayonet scar became a kunai scar."

She stood still for a few seconds before looking at the scene before her. A dead man and two men who were only knocked out. It wasn't her first time killing, so she was somewhat numb to the sensation of guilt and horror. She knelt and quickly sealed the two unconscious men into prison scrolls, protocol had to be followed and she knew that Hayate or Kakashi would want to question them to figure out what their game was.

She noticed a few barrels and stopped. Mercury, huh? She knew that if she left those there and more bandits came by to finish the job, the bridge would be destroyed. A mercury fire was near impossible to put out, and she didn't have any Sulphur powder to help keep it from being dangerous. If it caught on fire the vapors from it was deadly, it would be hazardous to pregnant women and could possibly make men sterile. Maybe they were trying to kill the population of the village off. She sighed and knelt to seal the barrels up in scrolls. She could use the mercury or hand it over to the chemistry labs that were ran by the T&I offices. They would have a field day with the large amount of the poisonous liquid.

She stretched and moved towards the water to make sure that she didn't have any of the liquid metal on her hands. She studied them and let out a soft sigh of relief. She was good. She wasn't going to die from the silvery liquid. She had watched enough _Land of the Lustrous_ to know what Mercury did to the environment to know that kicking the barrels into the water would be hazardous to the people of Wave and their fishing businesses. She hopped back onto the wall and went back to the beam that was her post.

When she appeared on the railing she got a few light screams from the men who worked on the bridge. She sent them all a raised brow and sighed as she jumped down from the railing and onto the wood floor of the bridge. Tazuna was staring at her. He was paused in his action of hammering a rivet into one of the beams so they could put down more wood. He was eying her with pity and guilt. She simply tilted her head and gave him a disarming smile.

"Kami, brat," He said, "You took a hit to the face and can still smile?"

"It doesn't hurt," She informed him, "The pain has already receded at this point, also its going to look really cool when it heals all the way up, I can guarantee it."

He was staring at her as though she had grown a second head, and honestly she couldn't blame him. _It's going to look really cool. _Really Yuzuki? She looked off to the side and crossed her arms across her chest, she didn't like the judgement that was coming from the old man.

"Well, it's time to switch the shifts, so I'm done for the day," Tazuna informed her.

"Understood, I'll follow your lead," She informed him.

Tazuna stared at the gangly kid as they walked through the decrepit village. She was vigilant in looking around; her pale eyes had creeped him out at first. Even when he had been staying in Konoha the eyes like her's had caused him some discomfort. Those eyes were cold, where her's were warm yet old. His eyes trailed the line of the cut on the left side of her face, it had stopped bleeding before she came back, and he felt extreme guilt. His lie had disfigured this child's face, and she was so blasé about it.

It was like she didn't care what others were going to think when they saw that. He knew that children could be cruel- honestly, that's what she was to him he couldn't help but see the genin's ages instead of their profession- and would mercilessly tease her for the scar. She looked up at him and he saw the smallest of smiles on her face. There it was, that strange warmth in her eyes that he noticed that other ninja lacked. She _knew_ when to be cold and when to be normal. It was like the older generation had forgotten that skill or chose to ignore it completely.

"Why'd you become a ninja?" He asked her.

"I want to be Hokage," She answered without missing a beat.

"Your lying, that's the blonde one's dream," He huffed.

"Your right," She chuckled, "My parents were ninja's so I just did what was expected of me, but I would like to be able to protect those that are precious to me."

"Precious, huh?" Tazuna muttered, "Like your Shishou?"

She gained a light pink dusting to her cheeks, light enough that he wouldn't have been able to tell she was embarrassed by him guessing correctly. Yet, if he looked at her ears they were a bright red. He wondered just how close the two were if he was able to get that kind of reaction out of her. They seemed remarkably close.

"Yes, Shishou is one of my precious people," She muttered as they entered a grocery store.

She looked around with sad eyes. Gato was a horrible businessman. He could've set up trade with Wave and helped be their main way of shipping their goods. The money he could have made was astronomical, he would've ended up even more wealthy than before. She shrugged at that, it wasn't her fault that he was an idiot, because of him she was here getting money for this job and a B or A- rank mission on her record. That was good for her, it would make getting into the chuunin exams a bit easier.

She still needed a team for that.

She brought her hand back and caught someone's wrist. She turned back with a cold look and stared down the dirty man that had attempted to steal from her. She wasn't amused and added a bit more pressure to her hold. He winced as the bones began to strain under the strength of her hold.

"Beat it and don't try that again," She hissed as she released him.

He scampered off and she turned towards Tazuna as he picked up some food for their dinner. It wasn't much, but she couldn't blame them. They had no way of getting fresh produce because of Gato. She felt her shoulder's slump slightly and a frown tugged at her lips. She almost winced when her cut made itself known on her face. She was starting to feel it now that her adrenaline was gone.

"Let's get going, kid," Tazuna grinned at her.

"Who're you calling kid, old man?" She asked him with a slight frown.

He let out a laugh at that and she let out a breath of air that could count as one. Somehow she had endeared herself to the old man. How she did it, she had no clue. It was going to make protecting him easier if he trusted her. It would make the mission go by faster as well.

"We're back!" Tazuna called as they entered his small home.

"Welcome back, father," Tsunami greeted before turning to the genin standing next to him, "Oh Kami, what happened?"

Yuzuki was taken aback when the older woman began to study the cut on her face. She could feel the embarrassment rising in her. She hadn't been mothered in a very long time. Not even this life's mother had done this.

She missed it.

She had missed having someone worry about you without string being attached. Without an ulterior motive. As the long, dark-haired woman bustled about, searching for an old first aid kit, she saw Hayate pause in the doorway to the kitchen. His dark eyes were wide with slight surprise and she stood up straighter. She still needed to give a mission report.

"There were three unknown chakra signatures," She informed him, "Two have been sealed and one has been taken care of. They had a barrel of mercury that they were going to use on the bridge I have it sealed as well since there was no safe way of getting rid of it without polluting the water."

"Understood, it was the right move," Hayate sighed as he gave a quiet cough.

She handed over the scrolls as per protocol and the moment they left her hands Tsunami swooped in and began to bandage her face. It wasn't necessary but it made the woman happier. She wasn't going to fight with her and make Tazuna mad. She watched as Hayate took the scroll and headed up to the room he was sharing with Kakashi.

She caught Kakashi's eye and felt some annoyance at the amused glint. She couldn't help but think he was a bit of an idiot. Bakashi, that was going to be his new nickname whenever they were on a mission like this. This wasn't as serious of a mission as a higher rank. She would call him Taichou whenever they were on a serious mission together in the future.

"Is something wrong, Bakashi?" She asked him with a sweet smile.

She watched as he paled, her own eyes widened at a very familiar look on his face. Those words had brought forth a PTSD episode. She was lucky that his was only brought on by that single word. She could gather that it was the nickname, someone close to him had to have called him that at one point. It triggered him. Tsunami finished and went to put the kit away, not knowing about the silver haired jonin's turmoil. Yuzuki got up and slowly approached him.

"Breathe, Kakashi," She ordered, "Try to come back to the present."

She brought a hand up to his own to try and get him to calm down. He needed to ground himself, she was trying to do what Inoichi had taught her to do. Learning how to calm someone down was needed if she wanted to be in T&I. Sometimes kindness could break a person as well.

It didn't seem to work with Kakashi.

She gave a low curse and pushed out some chakra out to signal to Hayate that she needed him. She moved to Kakashi's shoulders to try and break him out of his memories. Hayate appeared and sent her a confused look.

"I broke him," She stated with a shaky voice, "I think I triggered his PTSD without meaning to."

Hayate stared at Kakashi before brining an arm back and hitting the man. Yuzuki let out a sigh and was about to ream her teacher a new one before the silver haired jonin finally came out of his memories. Well, sometimes another shock _could _break someone out of an episode, but that was rare. She didn't know who to be mad at more. Kakashi for ignoring his mental health, or Hayate for punching the man.

"Hatake, as a member of the Yamanaka clan I will be recommending you for therapy," She informed him in a no nonsense tone, "It's up to you whether or not to take it, but I will implore that you do. There's no judgement involved."

If it was one thing to have to be punched out of an episode, it was a kid telling him he needed therapy. Kakashi was about to brush her off when he caught her expression. It was one of complete understanding and sadness. That pissed him off a bit. What would _she_ know about losing someone? He then remembered the fact that she had to identify her parent's bodies. How much therapy she had to for that was something he kind of wanted to know. He wasn't going to ask her; he had heard her threat a juken to the crotch enough times to be out of her reach when she was angry.

"I didn't know that you could do that," Hayate informed her.

"I don't like pulling clan privileges on people," She huffed, "But what if that had happened when Zabuza attacked?"

It was a valid reason. He knew better than to freeze up on a mission, but her worry had some credence. This is why he didn't hang around Yamanaka's that much, they were able to read people with such ease that it was scary. He reached a hand up and ruffled her hair, she knocked his hand away with an annoyed expression before heading into the kitchen and greeted Sakura. She was going to be taking the afternoon shift of protecting Tazuna while Yuzuki was trained.

Lunch was just simple Onigiri and soon everyone was back to work. Tazuna left with Sakura, giving a wave to those left in the house. Hayate gave Yuzuki a look and they both went outside to train. Kakashi was curious as to what she would be trained in.

Hayate didn't wait to scold her for using her byakugan too much. She was crouched with her hands on her head as she held onto a throbbing area. He had hit her on the head hard enough that she was gritting her teeth to stop from crying out. She stared up at him with a glare.

"I shouldn't have to tell you not to use your byakugan so much," He informed her with a frown, "You were reckless and used more chakra then was necessary, how you ignored the drain I don't know."

"I understand, Shishou," She muttered.

"If I catch you using it like that again it'll be more than a telling off and two weeks of grueling D-Ranks that are typically used when jonin are in trouble," he informed her, "You better wear clothes that you don't care if they get ruined because they will."

"Y-Yes, Shishou," She stuttered in surprise.

She had never made him that mad before. She was starting to find out that she didn't like an angry Hayate. Well, she wasn't going to use her byakugan like she did. Every once in a while was the best course of action, or using it to see into a building. She was starting to see where he was coming from, she thought about using it too much.

"Now, lets go through your katas before sparring," he ordered.

She unsealed her bokken, the long wooden sword easily taller than her, and got into the correct stance. He surprised her by starting the spar before she was able to warm up. She responded in a way that he couldn't have guessed. She was able to parry his blow and he saw on her face an expression of surprise and slight annoyance. Their spar began to pick up and he smirked when she was able to block more of his blows than before.

She was getting better; she had learned from her fight earlier that being slow was going to get her injured. He guessed that she didn't want anymore facial injuries, though it did look like the Nidaime's own markings. If she were to get three more than he would start to wonder if she was doing it on purpose. He swung at her head and she ducked under his bokken and brought her own up to hit his chest where his heart was.

"You're getting better," He informed her, "But I would still kill you even if you had killed me."

The wood resting against the top of her head caused her to frown but nod in agreement. When she finally learned how to use both hands, she could block that with a tanto and still finish him off. He was a bit nonchalant about the way he was describing this, but he had already died before it wasn't like he was afraid of death. He gave her slight break and looked towards one of the trees where a familiar head of hair was.

"Has she learned water waling yet?" Kakashi asked him.

"I wonder…" Hayate replied.

The annoyed look sent his way was worth it.


	8. Chapter 8

**I haven't given romance any thought, which is a bit of a stretch, but I really have no clue who she ends up with even though she has kids by the time Boruto is happening. Like three of them, possibly more. **

**I kind of lost inspiration for a while so this chapter kind of suffers for it. I forgot how Yuzuki was written tbh so she's kind of inconsistent. I think she's still kinda how I originally created her. Sorry for popping off on you guys like that, thanks for the follows and favorites! I hope that everyone is staying safe!**

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8

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Yuzuki stared at the scroll that was sitting in her weapons pouch. Her blank expression slowly changed to be a glare at the innocent roll of paper. Well, it was innocent until she realized it held a raiton jutsu inside of it. She could only wonder _who_ would put it in her pouch. She could almost taste the sarcasm that came from those thoughts.

There was only one other ninja in the village that specialized in raiton jutsus and that was Hatake Kakashi. She couldn't help but be annoyed at _Bakashi_, she may not be saying that nickname to his face for a while until after his therapy, but she was going to continue calling him that in her thoughts. He really was an idiot sometimes. Yet, she couldn't help but be touched at the thought that she might want to learn how to use her nature. It was kind of sweet, for an idiot.

Dammit Bakashi! Don't try to force fondness, that's something you need to do with actions and not gifts. The dango that Genma and Yuna bought her didn't count, she liked them before she was given sweets.

She picked up the scroll and gently tapped it against her hand. On one hand it would help her overall, on the other she was still mad at him. She was also worried but didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to admit that she saw a lot of herself in him. She tilted her head at that thought.

By technicality she was older than the jonin that surrounded her. Twenty-three and then another twelve years. God, she was in her thirties. She felt as though she should be smirking at the expense of someone, and she didn't know why. Was it…ah yes, Senju Tsunade, the world's best medic who somehow looked as young as she did in her prime. Yuzuki liked to think that she used a very clever henge but knew it had to be something else.

Ah, it didn't really matter.

She put the scroll back into her pouch and stretched. She had been put through the ringer by Hayate who was taking the opportunity to use the woods and water around them to make their spars harder. She could still feel the hit from the wooden sword when he attacked her from the water. The man was good at making clones in a discreet manner. Something that his dance of the crescent moon called for.

No wonder he taught her how to make them, he was most likely going to teach her the technique so she could be a swords master of Konoha. She was starting to wonder if he wanted to steal the title of swords masters away from Kiri. Get Genma trained up and give Kakashi a sword and they were on their way to doing so. She couldn't help the slight upwards turn of her lips as she thought about that.

She headed into the bathroom, no one was inside and there hadn't been since the night before, and looked at herself in the mirror. She brought a hand up and brushed the tips of her fingers against the bandages on her face. Her reflection changed on her and she flinched. Dead blue eyes against a bruised and bandaged face. She put her hands on the sides of the sink and began to run the water. She stuck her head under to help calm herself down.

"Woah, sorry to interrupt," She heard Hayate's voice and barely reacted, "You okay?"

"Not really…" She muttered as she moved away from the water and grabbed onto the long strands of her hair.

With a quick twist of her wrist she wrung the water from it. She shook her hands free of water and turned the faucet off. Hayate looked at her and noticed the slightly haunted expression in her eyes. She was a lot like Kakashi, more than she wanted to admit, but she was able to get help. He knew that when she learned the mind arts from Inoichi that he had to help her deal with trauma from _Nightmares_. She had to classify them as such and explained the realistic nature of them from hearing about missions from Shinobi that liked to get meals from her parents, and an overactive imagination. He sometimes wondered who had screwed Genma's kid up, he knew that her problems mainly came from her past life.

Maybe it would've been better if she hadn't remembered anything, a clean slate would've been better for her.

"What's for breakfast?" She asked him as she removed the bandages from her face and searched her weapons pouch for something.

"Tamagoyaki and Rice," He replied as she pulled out a small brown jar.

More Hyuuga medicine. A paste for cuts and bruises to help speed up the healing process. She was quick with applying it and gave him a tired wave before heading out of the bathroom. She went down the stairs and into the kitchen to see a sleepy Tsunami moving about and preparing items to make breakfast. The dark-haired woman turned and almost jumped at the sight of the pre-teen but then sent her a kind smile.

"Would you like any help?" Yuzuki asked with a tiny smile.

"I would appreciate it," Tsunami smiled, "Would you mind cutting the vegetables for me."

"No problem leave it to me."

Tsunami watched as the pale eyed girl easily grabbed the right knife for cutting the vegetables. It was a practiced hand that cut them into small pieces, yet large enough not to be considered minced. She wondered why a child had such skill in cooking but thought back to the rumors she heard about Shinobi villages, orphans had to learn how to cook for themselves and be adults at such a young age.

"Where do you want them, Tsunami-San?" Yuzuki asked.

"Right next to the pan," Tsunami answered.

The bowl of cut vegetables was placed in the correct spot before Tsunami shooed Yuzuki away. She made sure the kunoichi was sitting at the table and smiled before going back to cooking. She couldn't help but think that the girl was shy. She didn't seem to say much, but her heart was in the right place. She looked up from the oil she was putting in the square pan and watched as the silver haired jonin joined the girl. He gave her a single eyed smile and she went back to cooking.

"Morning, Hatake-San," Yuzuki greeted in a faint voice.

She wasn't going to use that nickname for him. Not after the reaction he had from it, the trauma she had somehow brought to the surface of his thoughts. She felt guilty for doing such a thing, he wasn't an enemy. He hadn't deserved it. Doing what she had brought her own trauma to the forefront of her mind.

"San, huh?" Kakashi muttered.

"Would you rather I call you Jiji?" She hissed at him a frown on her face.

He held up his hands in defense and she huffed. Tsunami listened from the kitchen with an amused smile on her face. Those two acted more like old friends than a lower ranked subordinate and a soldier at a higher rank. Shifting relationships seemed to be a common occurrence with Ninja. It made sense with the nature of their occupation.

"Don't harass Kakashi," Hayate sighed as he walked into the room as well and took a seat next to his student.

"I didn't do anything," She muttered before sighing and looking at him, "What are the rounds for today?'

"Sakura and you will change shifts," Hayate stated, "I'll be teaching the boys a bit more on Tree Walking seeing as they haven't got it down yet and a more in depth approach might help them."

"I'll be working on you with your chakra nature," Kakashi informed her with an eye smile.

She didn't like the sound of that. She gathered that training with Kakashi was like reading a manual and trying to figure it out yourself. In other words, unhelpful. The glint in his eye told her that he knew what she had been thinking. Yet, at the same time she couldn't help but agree with the two jonin. Her nature wasn't something that Hayate could teach her with ease, and Kakashi was sure to know more raiton jutsu and genjutsu then her teacher. Just because she understood it didn't mean that she had to like it.

Sakura came down into the room and gave a loud yawn. She greeted the two jonin with sleepy nods before turning towards Yuzuki. She almost screamed at the angry cut that went across the other girl's face. How the hell hadn't she noticed that the night before? She didn't even know how to bring it up in a conversation without insulting her.

"Oh, Sakura," Yuzuki started with a blank expression on her face, "On your guard duty this morning please try to keep an eye out for places that you wouldn't expect enemies to come from."

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I apprehended a small group yesterday trying to light mercury on fire to burn the bridge down," Came the reply with a small smile, "They also had shinobi training."

A shiver went down the pinkette spine. She couldn't imagine facing an opponent stronger, or older than her on this mission. At least, not on her own. Kakashi stared at his female student before looking towards the one that he had accepted training while on this mission. She had a hand up and was resting her head in it. The look on her face was calculating as she stared at Sakura. She had been gauging the other girl's reaction.

And wasn't impressed in the slightest.

He started to really understand her goal of torture and interrogation the longer he was physically around her. The kid was a mini Ibiki in the making, someone who could be scary and use it to their advantage. She was too scary for a normal twelve-year-old. He remembered watching her name her parent's bodies. She had been able to hide her expression, an action he had mistaken as not understanding what had happened. She knew death and understood it well, her parents had set her on the path of a shinobi before she was old enough to be in the academy.

His father had been like that as well.

Even Uchiha Itachi had fallen to a clan's orders to become a shinobi. He almost focused on that line of thought when a kick to his shin from the tall girl got his attention. Everyone had come to the table while he had been thinking and he sent his male student a look. There was only one of them. He let out a low sigh.

Naruto was pushing himself further than he should.

"I'll go find him," Yuzuki sighed as she got up from the table, "Thank you for breakfast, Tsunami-San."

Everyone stared at her in surprise before turning towards her spot. She had eaten so fast that they hadn't seen it. Kakashi was impressed, she could possibly wear a mask better than him at her age. Not that he could ever see her wearing one, even with her sensitive sense of smell. He let out a quiet sigh as his male student began to eat.

So much for comradery.

Yuzuki strolled in the forest her hands in the pockets of her shorts, the weather of the area called for them and she was going to follow that for comfort, and she could feel the cold metal of a kunai brushing against her fingers. She was prepared to fight and protect herself, and possibly Naruto. She passed a teen around her age in a pink, sleeveless Kimono. Long mahogany brown hair and a familiar scent almost caused her to pause.

So, the hunter-nin was staying around the area. She narrowed her eyes in slight thought as she followed the feeling of Naruto's chakra. She almost stumbled at the astounding depth of it. The blonde really was like an endless pit, more so than Genma and Hayate put together. She quickly caught herself and sighed.

"Ah! Yuzuki-Chan! Did you see that guy?" Naruto asked her as she walked up to him.

"Yeah, he's prettier than Ino," Yuzuki said, her face impassive as she kept a grin back.

Naruto muttered something under his breath, and she side eyed him. A single tilt of her head made him turn pink and look away. She rolled her eyes and held out a hand to him. He accepted it and she easily pulled him to his feet.

"Tsunami-San's made breakfast, I'd go get some before it's all gone," She informed him.

Naruto quickly took off and she shook her head in disbelief at that. She couldn't wait until the mission was over. She huffed and looked up towards the trees. She could see marks scratched into the bark. She focused her chakra and easily walked up the side. She knelt and judged how deep the marks were. They were a few inches deep and rough to the touch.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds as she finally saw some good judgement on Kakashi's part.

That was the only good thing she could say that he's done. She wasn't even being rude about it. She stood up straight and scratched the back of her head. She could just stay out in the woods and read the scroll that had been gifted to her. Standing upside down on a branch would add some training into her reading. She did just that.

The addition of chakra to a blade, especially her primary nature, was deadly. One could throw a kunai covered in the energy and control it with chakra strings, it was a proficient way to use chakra. It was extremely taxing on the amount of chakra that was used, she could possibly get away with using such tactics the more she fine tuned her control, it wasn't one that was typically used by ninjas for that exact reason. The only ninja village that typically used chakra strings was Suna, and they held the mastery of puppetry jutsu mixed with poisons.

She was brought out her thoughts by a kunai being sent her way. She stopped the chakra supply to her feet and dropped to the ground to dodge it. She landed in a crouch and brought out a kunai of her own to barely deflect a second one sent her way. She didn't activate the byakugan, she really was taking Hayate's words to heart.

"You have good reflexes for a genin," A familiar voice said.

"What is it with jonin and throwing things at me?" She muttered as she relaxed.

She glared at Kakashi and he simply gave her a one-eyed smile. She put her kunai away and waited to see what he was going to do. He was absolute pants at instructing his own students, someone that belonged to a different teacher was going to be difficult for him.

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him as he started their training. She could feel the static in the air as he coated a kunai in chakra. She watched as sparks jumped from the metal and a slight hissing sound filled the woods. She brought out her own kunai and readied herself by covering the handle and her hand in chakra to protect it.

An hour later found her beaten into the dirt, a deep frown on her face as she tried to catch her breath. Her hair was sticking up in every direction, Kakashi had lowered the dose of his electricity in the chakra he had placed in the blade to a point where it would just shock her, and her fingers were tingling. She had the hang of what he was trying to teach her, but it wasn't a complete understanding. She would have to work on it with Genma when she got done with her D-Ranks.

She wasn't looking forward to those. Most of the punishment D-ranks fell within area 44, the forest of death. The playground and domain of a certain purple haired Kunoichi.

"You're a quick learner," Kakashi said as he looked down at her.

Pale eyes narrowed and he was suddenly on the receiving end of a Hyuuga-esque glare. He simply gave her a one-eyed smile and watched as her expression changed into one of annoyance and slight exhaustion. Well, their small training session had ended right before lunch. Kakashi studied the kid once again.

She was a clear cry from the serious child he remembered identifying her parent's bodies. There was a spark to her that came from the influence of one Shiranui Genma and Gekko Hayate. He even noticed the slight…nerdiness that she seemed to exude sometimes. Her first expression upon seeing the lighting covering his blade had been awe before it quickly turned serious.

"I suppose it's time for lunch," He informed her.

He heard a small, sarcastic cheer come from her before she slowly pushed herself to her feet. She teetered for a few seconds before steadying herself and rolling her shoulders. It was something that shinobi who used weights for training did, to help relax their muscles from the burn. She looked up at him and raised a brow.

Her face was back to being impassive. He took the lead and she followed him. Her footsteps were practically silent, something that was learned rather recently, and he couldn't help but feel like a mother duck. He wondered if this was how Hayate felt sometimes.

He was almost upset with himself that he had never thought of having an apprentice yet. The key word being almost, he was somewhat happy with his genin team. He would be ten times worse on an apprentice than his cute students. He looked up and noticed his students standing on the sides of trees.

"How goes the tree walking?" Yuzuki called up to the two boys.

"Yuzuki-chan!" Naruto called down with a grin, "It's going well!"

"Idiot." Sasuke muttered to himself.

"If he doesn't concentrate he's going to fall," Kakashi sighed and he heard a quiet snort from the dirty blonde.

"Naruto defies the kami sometimes," She said as he looked down at her, "Even if he did fall, I doubt he'd get hurt…besides Uchiha is keeping an eye on him just in case."

She gleaned that much from a scoff and a goofball? He almost wished that she had been put on his team, almost. She would be too much for him to handle. She was too much like himself…even too much like his sensei. It was difficult to understand just where her personality laid, he felt as though she had a sadistic side but had yet to truly show one.

"It's time to break for lunch!" Hayate called up to the two boys from his own perch on a branch.

He let out a slight cough before jumping down. The two boys slowly made their way back down to the ground. Sasuke and Naruto shared a look that informed Yuzuki that they were going to run back to Tazuna's house. The only difference was when Naruto grabbed onto her wrist with a wide grin and dragged her along. Her annoyed expression was mitigated by the slight fondness she somewhat had for the blonde.

Hayate felt as though the blonde saw her as an unofficial friend. She had never been rude to him and never put him down, unless she needed to make sure he wouldn't die. He probably filed her as an ally in his mind. She had already done the same, she didn't have a problem with the boy.

"I don't understand how your student's mind works," Kakashi informed him.

"Think of a more serious Genma," Hayate stated with a wry grin, "If he ever figured out she was like him they would most likely destroy the world."

The _and make smores from the embers_ went unsaid. They both knew it, and the fact that she was gunning for T&I was terrifying. She was going to break minds when she finally got her hands-on prisoners. If the Sandaime didn't send her as a field interrogator when he could, they would start to question his priorities.

They headed into the house and watched as the genin ate their lunch, which was simple onigiri. Naruto was trying to pull Yuzuki into a conversation with the rest of his team and Sakura looked ready to hit the blonde. The narrowing of pale eyes and slight killing intent put a stop to that. Yuzuki was starting to reach the peak of her annoyance due to the pinkette. She was testing her patience and that was not the best thing to do.

"Yuzuki-chan? Is everything all right?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah, everything is good," She said with a slight smile before she bit into her onigiri.

She was putting on a mask around the genin of team seven, something to make herself seem more like a normal child than the adult stuck in a childish form. It didn't take her long to finish her lunch and get ready for guard duty. She would do the same thing she did the day before.

"The pink haired one didn't really look around like you did." Tazuna informed her as soon as they were far enough away from the building.

"I'm not one to speak ill of my fellow shinobi," She said as she gained a slightly uncomfortable expression, "She's going to find herself at a crossroads one of these days, that's all I will divulge."

She gave him a two fingered salute and created a clone before jumping off the side of the bridge. Her jump was far more practical and graceful compared to the one she did the day before. She spent the entire time looking around the underneath of the bridge. There weren't anymore surprise attacks, the disappearances of the two from the day before had sent a message. She almost smirked darkly to herself at that thought.

Sometimes that's the best type of message to be able to send.

She paused under one of the bridges arches. That thought had been particularly dark. Sometimes she wondered just how much this world was going to change her. Would she still be able to remember her family? Music? Movies? There were so many things she could forget. Well, she wasn't going to forget Keanu Reeves anytime soon, she was that weird kid that could watch _Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure _growing up and had immediately liked the Canadian actor. No wonder her brother gave her the side eye look whenever she dropped a 'woah' in a sarcastic manner.

The less said about her likes the better.

She went back into the top of the bridge, she was a bit low on chakra, and dispelled her clone. Tazuna grinned at her before they headed back for dinner.


	9. Chapter 9

9

* * *

Yuzuki sighed as she stood with the entirety of team seven- well minus Naruto seeing as he was regaining his strength after overexerting himself by training- on the bridge. She shared a look with Hayate and discreetly moved closer to Tazuna. The heavy mist that was rolling onto the bridge didn't sit well with her. She didn't have to activate the byakugan to sense the chakra that filled it.

"What's going on?" Tazuna asked as he saw his co-workers on the ground.

There was blood staining the wood, but when the bodies moved just the slightest it was a relief. Yuzuki sighed quietly and scratched the back of her head. She could point out that they've walked into a trap, but knew that the obvious wasn't what everyone wanted to hear. Though, she was grateful that Kakshi of all people had informed her that she missed Naruto yelling at Inari the night before.

She had decided to head to bed early and was glad to have missed the confrontation.

"What a thick mist," Sakura muttered.

"It's filled with chakra," Yuzuki sighed.

"Correct, and our enemy is here," Kakashi informed them.

Hayate gave him a look at the 'cool guy' attitude he had. He worried about the future of shinobi with guys like Kakashi. Such an act was highly contagious. He could see Yuzuki giving the white haired jonin an annoyed look before pulling a kunai out of her weapons pouch to protect Tazuna with.

"Long time no see, Kakashi," Zabuza voice rang out through the mist, "I see you still have those trembling brats with you."

"I'm trembling from excitement," Sasuke claimed.

"How lame could you get?" Yuzuki deadpanned at him, and Sakura sent the girl a heated glare.

It didn't stop them from performing their job when a few Zabuzas appeared before them. Yuzuki easily used juken and took one down and Sasuke used kunai to finish the rest. Droplets of water fell upon them and they focused on the enemy that stood a few meters ahead of them.

"Impressive for brats," Zabuza complimented, "But water clones only have a tenth of the originals strength."

"Yuzuki, only use it if it becomes too serious," Hayate ordered.

"Yes, Shishou." Was the only thing she said.

Tazuna looked towards the two teams, he could feel the dread rolling down his spine. One teacher was allowing his students to showboat, the other gave his orders and she followed. The pale eyes looked towards him and he slightly flinched, it was so different from the easy-going kid that liked to joke around with him. He was finally witness to the two masks that shinobi wore, the one that was up around civilians to be disarming and the one that was shown during combat. He was now seeing the combat side of her.

She was guarding him along with Sakura as the dark-haired boy went after the one wearing a mask. He could tell that she wasn't impressed, the impassive expression on her face was obvious as she clenched her kunai. They couldn't hear what was being said between the two dark-haired teens, but the appearance of water needles was enough to cause some trepidation around the konoha shinobi. Hayate narrowed his eyes as he felt the shift in chakra. There was a quick battle, well quick for a genin, and the masked boy was sent flying by a kick.

He couldn't help but think his student would have ended the other boy before he got another chance to attack. Hesitation such as that was a double-edged sword and would kill a shinobi. She wasn't one for that mistake, and he made sure she never would be. Correctly judging the way to end a mission was key for a shinobi. He had learned that lesson the hard way.

He shared a look with Kakashi and they both went after Zabuza. The Uchiha took care of the fake hunter-nin while the two girls protected the client. Sakura watched as chaos erupted on the bridge. Her precious Sasuke was matched evenly with the other boy, while the two jonin were easily battling the missing-nin. She looked towards the taller girl and noted that she was easily watching the two fights, a contemplative look on her scarred face.

"It's incredible, that speed can't be human," Tazuna stated as he watched the blurred figures.

"They use chakra to increase their speed and argument their muscles," Yuzuki quietly explained, "Once one ends up in the jonin ranks the level of chakra control that is needed is insane."

"I'm in the ninetieth percentile," Sakura stated, her voice slightly arrogant, "My chakra control is almost perfect."

"What about you?" Tazuna questioned Yuzuki.

"I'm currently in the ninety-fifth percentile and training to reach the hundredth percentile," Yuzuki answered.

Sakura almost blanched at that. She then grew angry at the other girl. She was only in that percentile due to the byakugan that she inherited from her mother. She had never put much effort forth in the academy when they did chakra exercises. Iruka has admonished her multiple times for sloppy work.

"Sakura, you keep glaring at me and I'll wipe it off your face," Yuzuki said, snapping the pinkette from her angry thoughts, "This is not the time to be petty, if Zabuza gets past Shishou and Hatake-Senpai we'll need to act and pull Tazuna to safety."

"Who put you in charge?" Sakura grumbled.

The pinkette was starting to dislike the Yamanaka. A quiet sigh came from Yuzuki and she rolled her eyes at how petty the shorter girl was. She had forgotten that shinobi from civilian backgrounds disliked those that came from clans. There was a feudal system in place, and no one seemed to notice it, except the civilian Shinobi.

"Ah, what the hell is that?" Tazuna yelled in surprise as a dome made from ice mirrors appeared on the bridge.

"A kekkai genkai," Yuzuki explained, "He must be from the Yuki clan, Uchiha's in danger."

"What'd you say about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura growled.

"He has yet to awaken the Sharingan, he's in danger against another blood limit without being a chuunin or jonin level shinobi," Yuzuki explained in an annoyed tone, "It seems as though the other boy's been training longer than we have."

She didn't like the idea of an enemy that could easily take them out. Genin were at the lowest branch for a reason. She almost sighed in defeat; they should have never continued with this mission. They should have gone back to the village and requested a jonin team to protect the old bridge builder. She gained an uncomfortable expression on her face as a scream rang out from the ice dome.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out.

"Shit," Hayate hissed as the two jonin paused in their battle.

Zabuza was grinning behind his bandages, but it slowly fell. He knew his apprentice as well as the coughing jonin knew his. His boy was too soft, he wouldn't kill the genin that was trapped in the mirrors with him. He looked towards the bridge builder that was his target, the dirty blonde girl in front of the old man met his eyes and her's narrowed. She was studying him like she was trying to figure out his weaknesses, he almost snorted at that thought. She would fail at that.

"Tazuna, I'm sorry," Sakura said, "I'm going to have to leave you for a moment."

"Yeah, go," Tazuna consented, he still had one of the genin to protect him.

Sakura ran off and Yuzuki couldn't help but think she was stupid. She didn't know what the pinkette thought she could accomplish, her taijutsu was subpar at best and she had a small grasp on genjutsu. She would be a hindrance more than a help in the battle.

"Her hearts in the right place," Tazuna informed Yuzuki in a fatherly tone.

"It will get her killed," Yuzuki immediately said and he looked at her in shock, "She doesn't have the skill or experience to stay alive when doing such reckless stunts, Naruto has his immense amount of chakra to use to call an army of clones and Uchiha does have some skill in taijutsu…she doesn't."

"You almost won me over with that," He griped.

"Thank you," She sighed, "I'm just being realistic."

"Cynic is more like it."

"_Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist, someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations_."

He didn't know what she was quoting. She looked down at the kunai in her hand, and contemplated the quote by Peter Senge. It rang more truth than most would like to admit. A cynic was born from someone who was an idealist or optimistic. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shuriken hitting the Yuki clan boy in the face and forcing him out of the ice dome.

"Ah, there's Naruto." Yuzuki commented.

Tazuna looked down at her and noticed she seemed annoyed at being turned into a commentator. Her monotone delivery of events would've been hilarious if the situation was different. Her annoyance disappeared as she reminded herself that it was part of the job. Even her earlier job had its monotonous moments, the graveyard guard duty on a navy base was far more boring than watching shinobi fight one another. Her nights of commentating nightlife was a thing of the past.

"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!" Naruto announced and Yuzuki let out a huff of disbelief.

"He truly is the number one knuckleheaded ninja." She muttered in a fond tone.

"I think most girls would go for the dark-haired one," Tazuna commented.

She stared at him in disbelief as Naruto started going off about how the main character of a story showed up in tricky situations. Her expression was identical to that of Kakashi's, though for various reasons. Tazuna thought that she had a crush on Naruto. She couldn't help but be a bit annoyed at that, she was fond of him sure but thought of him more as a good friend.

"That's not the situation at all," She informed him, before realizing something, "Oh that idiot."

Naruto had gone inside the dome. She forgot that he could be such an idiot sometimes. She brought a hand up and placed it against her forehead. He should have attacked the dome from the outside, he truly had the chakra to create so many clones that he could destroy the ice that formed the dome. Then again, he really didn't think things through most of the time. She only saw him plan meticulously when he was crafting pranks.

If he put as much thought into his actions that he did his pranks, he would be terrifyingly efficient.

"I can't see into the dome!" Sakura announced as the ice grew thicker to block everyone's eyes from what went on inside.

"Don't lose to that guy! Sasuke-Kun! Naruto!" Sakura yelled out her support.

"No, Sakura," Kakashi told her, "Don't egg them on."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Even if they could somehow defeat that technique, they cannot beat that boy," He replied.

Hayate watched as the pinkette's face fell in shock. He looked back towards his student and looked at the way she understood what Kakashi was telling his student. She had already concluded that information before the jonin genius. Zabuza chuckled and that got everyone's attention.

"Those two don't have the strength to destroy their heats to kill another person," Kakashi said, "That young man knows the true pain of being a shinobi."

"A real shinobi can't be created in a peaceful village like yours," Zabuza added, "Because you can't gain the most important thing, the experience of killing."

"Then what can we do?" Sakura questioned.

"Kakashi, we need to end this quickly," Hayate told the white haired jonin.

"Right," Kakashi muttered his agreement as he grasped his hitai-ate and lifted it.

The two female genin watched as the sharingan was shown. Hayate jumped back from the fight, knowing that he could possibly end up as collateral damage. He took up guarding the client with his student and looked down at the surprised kid. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she sighed before looking up at him with a curious expression. She wanted to know if this is how it had happened in the previous timeline. He shook his head; he wasn't sure of the exact way that this mission had gone but he was sure that the sharingan had come out back when they first ran into Zabuza.

The fight between Kakashi and Zabuza picked up to a speed that was incredible. Kubikiribocho had been brought out and the two kenjutsu users watched as the large blade was swiftly used as though it weighed nothing. Both were taking mental notes on the way that he fought, it was wild and unpredictable something that fit his personality. Kakashi fought with a precision that was brought about by years of ANBU service.

"Sakura, protect the client!" Kakashi ordered.

"Tazuna, stay near us," Sakura ordered the old man.

Hayate made a face at the pinkette and wondered if he should say something to her. He should say something to Kakashi first, after all it was his student. He barely reacted to the mist as it poured over the bridge and encased everything. A pale hand moved through the air and tried to disburse the fog. A frown appeared on Yuzuki's face and she focused a bit of chakra to her hand and quickly let it burst. That had removed the fog around her, but it was quickly replaced by more.

"Now isn't the time to experiment with chakra," He chided her, and she gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, force of habit," She muttered.

"Honestly, don't you know the importance of the mission?" Sakura asked her in a snide tone.

The blank look that she got from the Yamanaka was borderline terrifying. What Sakura didn't know was that Yuzuki was leaking killing intent. Hayate could see just how bad she wanted to tear into the other girl. He was going to have to have a serious conversation with Kakashi about his female student, she was going to say the wrong thing to someone and end up dead. Yuzuki flinched and looked behind her with wide eyes.

He drew his sword and blocked an attack from Zabuza. The missing-nin had decided to try a sneak attack. Zabuza was surprised when Kakashi appeared and kicked him away. The dark-haired nin slid for a few feet and gave a dark chuckle, his eyes shining with pure malice.

"Can you see inside the dome, Yamanaka?" Kakashi questioned Yuzuki while he was near the four.

"It's made from chakra, but I should be able to, Hatake-senpai," She answered as she looked towards Hayate and got a nod.

She activated the byakugan and looked towards the dome. She seemed to pale, and her lips went into a thin line. She watched as the Uchiha went down, there was a small spark of chakra coming from him that told her that he was still alive. It just wasn't looking good for them.

"Uchiha is down," She reported, "Naruto…he…"

She paused in her words as she watched a dark chakra appear where a familiar blue one had been. She couldn't help but tremble slightly at the darkness that radiated from it, it was terrifying. That had to be the kyuubi's chakra. Her jaw clenched and she found that she couldn't look away as it grew.

"Yuzuki, what is it?" Hayate questioned his trembling student who was staring at the dome with wide eyes.

That's when it finally hit them all. Kakashi couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, no wonder she seemed so scared. She may have known, the fact that she hadn't said what she was saying and unearthing an S-class secret in front of a civilian and a teammate was notable, and that's why she seemed surprised to finally feel that chakra. He knew that the sharingan allowed the user to somewhat see chakra, but not on the same level as the byakugan.

"Could the seal have been broken?" He muttered to himself.

"It's leaking into his own," Yuzuki quietly informed him as Sakura looked between the two with a deep frown on her face.

"Yuzuki, take Tazuna a way from here," Hayate ordered.

"I won't be able to take him off the bridge, while this fight's been going on we've been surrounded," She informed him with an apologetic look, "There's a few ninja in the fray, but they're barely above a genin in terms of chakra."

"Samurai then," Hayate murmured as Kakashi unraveled a scroll and ran a bloodied thumb down it.

"We don't have anymore time to waste," Kakashi informed Zabuza.

"What can you do in this situation, Kakashi?" Zabuza mocked.

Yuzuki watched as a body flew from the ice dome. The ice shattered and out came an orange blur. She questioned if she should call out to the blonde and stop his rampage by letting him know that the Uchiha was still alive. She was horrible with understanding people's emotions. She was a bit relieved when he stopped on his own and seemed to talk to the brunette boy that they had both met in the forest. She blinked in surprise when he punched him.

"He has one hell of a right hook," She muttered, "He fights like he's in a bar brawl."

Hayate cuffed the back of her head for that, though he couldn't help but agree with her. His time in the academy seemed to have been completely sabotaged, he felt as though they had Mizuki and a few other chuunin to thank for that. He knew that the blonde wouldn't accept training with him and Yuzuki, she wasn't really a part of his team and he wanted to learn from his own sensei.

"Why for a guy like that!?" Naruto's yell rang through the mist, "He's a bad guy who takes money from a criminal! Is that eyebrow-less freak the only important person to you?!"

"I mean, he isn't wrong," Yuzuki couldn't help but agree with him after looking at Zabuza again.

He _was_ missing his eyebrows. She wondered if he shaved them off to make himself faster, more aerodynamic. She couldn't remember the right word, but she felt as though that fit. She huffed at that thought and watched as a dog went past her. She was confused before the fog lifted and they were all welcomed to the sight of Zabuza being held still by a pack of ninken. Her eyes were drawn to the one dog that looked like a pug from where she stood. He was ugly, but she felt the need to hug him and touch his paws.

"Are those dogs…" Sakura deadpanned.

"Ninken are great at tracking," Yuzuki informed her, "Be nice, they're doing their best."

Although she had a soft spot for dogs, she still didn't like most of the Inuzuka. That clan was far too loud for her taste. She watched as Zabuza and Kakashi talked, there wasn't much of importance being said. Zabuza was trying to get money for revenge and Kakashi was informing him that he was going to die. She couldn't help but think it was pretty standard for Shinobi. She watched the hand signs that Kakashi flew through, Ox Rabbit and Monkey and wondered what he was thinking. A chirping noise reached her ears and light filled the area.

"The Chidori," Hayate sighed.

"Oh, isn't that also the Raikiri?" Yuzuki questioned.

She had heard about a famous samurai in her pervious life named Tachibana Dosetsu who owned the sword Chidori and renamed it to Raikiri after killing a thunder god. She didn't know why it stuck with her as long as it did, but she was thankful for it. The look that Hayate was giving her was an amazing deadpan. She was able to keep the large grin off her face and keep an innocent expression.

"Don't give him ideas to call it something better than a thousand birds," Hayate warned her.

"Yes, Shishou," She sighed in amusement.

"I'll ask once more, surrender," Kakashi said to Zabuza, "Your future is death."

Zabuza simply snorted at that. Kakashi took off running and held his hand to his side. Yuzuki couldn't help but think that the Chidori was an assassination move, and not one to take lightly. She was proven right when the Yuki clan boy took the hit instead. Blood splatted on the bridge and everyone froze in surprise as the boy held onto the hand piercing his chest with the last of his strength.

"That's that masked boy," Tazuna said, "Why did he?"

"To protect the person, he cared about the most," Yuzuki answered, her voice betraying no emotion.

Kakashi quickly moved back as Zabuza was about to use his momentary surprise to try and kill him. He put the boy down and closed his wide-open eyes. He turned to face his blonde student and wasn't surprised to see him without any wounds.

"Shishou, can we go and help the Uchiha?" Yuzuki questioned, "Tazuna would be safer if we moved."

He knew that she just wanted to stop Sakura from saying anything, from making a scene. She was too much like a certain genius. She may be more like Genma then she'd like to admit, but she had the cold attitude of a young Kakashi. It was a very strange mix.

They moved to attend to the Uchiha, the boy wasn't moving, and his body was cold. Yuzuki sighed as Sakura began to bawl her eyes out. She reached out with a hand and gently pulled one of the senbon out, her time training against Genma serving her well in understand which ones were safe to remove. She was mechanical in her movements.

"Shinobi saying number twenty-five, _no matter what the situation a shinobi must keep their emotions on the inside, you must make the mission your top priority and you must possess a heart that never shows tears_," She quietly quoted, "This is the life of a shinobi, Sakura…it's not as fantastical as you hoped…is it?"

It hadn't been posed in a snotty way. It held an ounce of understanding and Sakura finally looked the other girl in the eyes and saw years of suppressed grief. In that moment she felt old, older than her…older than her sensei. She watched as pale eyes looked away from her and towards the person of her affections. There wasn't any sense to pulling out the senbon.

"Why are you pulling out the senbon?" She whispered out through her tears.

"Oh, he isn't dead," Yuzuki said as she blinked, "I probably should have started with that, but certain nerves in his body have been hit and that caused him to pass out, he's only cold because of the Yuki clan Kekkei Genkai."

Sakura brought her fist back and went to hit the taller girl. Only to have her fist caught and crushed in a chakra enhanced grip. She winced and tried to pull back, ignoring the way that pale eyes watched her attempts with a bored expression.

"I could have you removed from the genin ranks for that," Hayate informed her and she stopped struggling, "No matter what is said to you, you don't go around harming other shinobi from the village."

"Of course, you'd take her side," Sakura muttered with a glare on her face.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Haruno," Yuzuki coldly said to her.

Nothing was said between the two girls as Hayate moved between them to act as a buffer. He watched as Yuzuki went back to gently removing the senbon and was surprised at how gentle she was towards a boy she didn't really care for. Then again, she didn't really go out of her way to be rude to him. She just disliked the sharingan, said it was a cop-out. A deus-ex machina that was complete and utter bullshit. She could understand the genjutsu aspect of it, but the ability to copy a technique from someone made them thieves in her eyes.

"What a lifestyle," Tazuna muttered as he stared between the two and tried to figure out who was in the right.

He was leaning towards the brat he was fonder of. Yuzuki had been helpful to Tsunami and took her job of protecting him seriously and wasn't trying to gain the attention of a boy. Sakura was transparent in that regard with what her intentions were.

"Oh, so you're getting your ass kicked," A voice questioned, and they all turned to see a short man with a cane walking towards them, "How disappointing, Zabuza."

"Gato," Yuzuki hissed as she went back to pulling the senbon out so they could eventually move the Uchiha to safety and get him all bandaged up, "This is bad…shit."

"Stay here with the client," Hayate ordered her, "And that also applies to you."

He had said that to Sakura, and she nodded. She still had a glare on her face whenever she looked at him, but she knew that keeping her mouth shut around him was her best bet to stay a genin. She looked towards her teammate to see if he was going to move away from them and break those orders first, but found him kneeling next to Yuzuki and collecting the senbon she removed the Sasuke.

"Which one's can I pull out, Yuzuki-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Yuzuki sighed before giving a small smile, "I'm quite adept at removing senbon, Shiranui uses them when we train, and his aim is actually better than…"

She didn't say anything that would upset Naruto and he was thankful for that. She went back to being quiet and he looked towards his crush. He couldn't believe that she didn't like their honorary member for this mission. Yuzuki wasn't always forthcoming with how nice she was, but she never glared at him or hit him. She never asked for him to be punished when she got caught up in one of his pranks and never sold him out when he passed by her. She was emotionally and socially stunted, but she was someone he really did consider a friend.

"Do I have to stay here?" Naruto asked her.

"I don't think Shishou was ordering you, but I wouldn't push him right now," She informed him, "He isn't too pleased at the movement…I might not do another mission with your team again because of this mission and it's not anything you did."

She was making that clear right away, this had nothing to do with Naruto and more to do with the girl who couldn't control her temper. If she ever had to face the pinkette in the chuunin exams or even a spar she was going to use that temper to her advantage.

Naruto gave a strained smile and gained a guilty glint to his eyes. She seemed to notice and sighed before bringing a hand up and ruffling his hair. Sakura's glare intensified at the other girl, she almost felt as though she was being replaced within her own team. Yuzuki noticed but didn't really care, she wasn't a preteen like the other girl and knew that was what her problem really was. She was mature enough, she had the years for it, to know that she wasn't going to replace the pinkette and just wanted to show her friend some comfort.

"What the hell you bastard!" Naruto's yell did not startle her, she would forever stick by that statement.

He took off towards Gato but was stopped by his sensei as Hayate gave him a look of slight understanding mixed with disbelief. Naruto struggled against Kakashi's grip for a few seconds before sighing and changing tactics.

"Say something! Weren't you two friends!?" Naruto yelled at Zabuza.

"Shut up kid," Zabuza growled, "Haku is already dead."

"Don't you feel anything at all? Weren't you two always together?!" Naruto continued.

"As I was used by Gato I used Haku, that was it," Zabuza informed him, "In this world of shinobi we are just tools, what I wanted was his blood and I have no regrets."

"Liar." Yuzuki muttered.

"Hm?" Tazuna asked her.

"That look in his eyes, he's pissed at Gato," She answered, "Haku meant more to him then he would ever willingly admit, he probably saw him as his son."

It was like a more fucked up version of her and Genma. She may never say it to him, but he knew that she saw him as her father and vice versa. The two had gained a strong bond, which honestly baffled Hayate until he realized that Genma liked taking care of someone and that showed that his mother hen side was very strong, and she knew that was exactly the kind of bond that Zabuza and Haku had. She would take a killing move for Genma, she wasn't that illusioned with herself, and she had the feeling he would avenge her death.

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto asked the missing-nin.

"Naruto we are not fighting him anymore," Kakashi began but Naruto broke his hold and walked up to the much taller man.

"Shut up, my enemy is still him!" Naruto shouted, "He really loved you! He loved you enough to die for you! Do you really feel nothing!? If I become as strong as you will I really become like you!? He threw away his life for you, without his own dream…to die as a tool that's just too sad."

"Kid, you don't need to say any more." Zabuza said.

Yuzuki gave a soft sigh and stood up. She turned towards Sakura and barely reacted to the glare from the other girl. They needed to move the Uchiha, he would be in danger if they didn't.

"We need to move him," She told the other girl, "You want to lift his head or feet?"

"Head."

They went to work and Tazuna followed them as they carried the Uchiha out of the line of sight, while Zabuza slaughtered thugs on his way to Gato in the background. Yuzuki almost paused at the pungent smell of iron in the air but ignored it, it was far enough away that it wasn't a current problem. She would only react if it was necessary. She trusted her Shishou and Kakashi to stop any of the thugs from coming after the bridgebuilder.

"Why are you two carrying me?" The Uchiha's voice asked them.

"You were out cold on the bridge, it was best to get you out of harms way before anymore damage could be done," Yuzuki calmly informed him.

"Does nothing faze you?" He asked her.

"Not really."

Tazuna laughed at that. It had been quick enough that the look on the Uchiha's face was pure surprise. That boy was like her in quite a few ways.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

"Masked boy is dead, Zabuza is currently dying, and Gato is dead," Yuzuki answered, "It was Kakashi that finished off the masked boy, he protected him from an attack and gave up his life."

"It's impressive that you prevented attacks to your critical areas!" Sakura exclaimed, delighted that the boy was awake.

"No." He muttered as he looked down at his hole littered skin.

He knew that the boy had done that on purpose. He felt something soft hit his head as his pink haired teammate informed Naruto that he was awake. He looked down to see a few roles of bandages and looked up towards the Yamanaka. She was looking away but upon feeling his eyes sent him a slight nod.

"You guys really need to stock up on supplies," She informed him in blunt tone, "You'll run out of weapons if you don't."

They heard screaming and saw an army of Kakashi's. Yuzuki couldn't help but think that half the female population of the village had dreamed of that kind of situation at least once. She let out a soft sound as it began to snow. A smile lit up on her face that was full of innocence. She held out her hands and caught some of the white flakes.

"Let's head back to Tazuna's." Hayate quietly told them.

A week later saw the bridge being completed, but Hayate and Yuzuki were going on ahead first. They had things to discuss that shouldn't be said around others. They shared a look and both sighed.

"I had forgotten that Sakura was a right pain," Yuzuki muttered, "She wasn't that bad until Ino got her claws into her."

"Has she always had that temper?" He questioned.

"Yeah, she takes it out on Naruto a lot," She conformed, "I'll add anger management to the scroll report that the Hokage wants. He probably already knows that Senpai needs therapy."

"I'll be looking for a team for you to join during the Chuunin Exams," He informed her and he watched the grin that appeared on her face, "I want you to wipe the floor with that girl and knock her down a few pegs."

He hadn't liked the fact that the pinkette had tried to hit his student, though he shouldn't worry too much seeing how she handled it, and was going to be petty about it. He said wipe the floor with her, but he knew that she translated that into absolutely destroying her. Yuzuki was one of those few people that could take things to the extreme, and that's why he was holding off until the final part of the chuunin exam to delve deeper into genjutsu with her.

He had a feeling that Anko was going to undermine that and teach the genin while she was in the forest doing those D-Ranks.


	10. Chapter 10

10

* * *

"So, you're Gemma's brat."

Yuzuki looked at the purple-haired kunoichi in front of her. She gave off a dangerous air, but it didn't really bother her that much. The Kyuubi's chakra had bothered her more than the killing intent that radiated off the woman in waves. She blinked when a kunai was tossed at her and moved her head to the side to dodge it.

"Decent reflexes," Anko said as she continued to study the kid in front of her, "All right, your mission is to take this scroll to the tower in the forest, there's a few shinobi inside that keep the place running."

"Understood." Yuzuki nodded as she was handed a long blue scroll that was sealed with wax.

"To make this harder, I'll be hunting you," Anko continued as the girl placed the scroll inside her shirt where there was a small pocket, "So, you better have more than decent reflexes."

She watched as a small smile stretched across the girl's face that slowly became a bit unnerving. The girl had a decent grasp on how to unnerve people. A slight tilt of the head added to the effect she was going for.

"I understand, Mitarashi-Senpai." Yuzuki said in a sweet tone.

"You might just make it, brat." Anko gave a crazed grin.

She gave a hand sign for dismissed and the kid seemingly vanished into the forest. She couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face, she was going to enjoy messing up Genma's kid. The man seemed so proud of her it was sickening. She would make sure that the A-rank she completed didn't go to her head, genin that somehow got missions that important typically ended up back home in a box.

She jumped into the forest and followed the kids' path; she hadn't learned not to burn the tree branches with her chakra yet. She had made such a rookie mistake, then again underestimating the kid would be a mistake all in its own. From what she understood, the kid aimed for average while in the academy. If she could impress two tokubetsu jonin, then there was something to watch out for. A genius that hid their abilities was possibly the worst kind, they were unpredictable.

She grinned and easily maneuvered out of the way of a log trap. The kid was a fast worker, she'd give her that. The kid wanted to be in torture and interrogation, well she might just pick up a tiny Kohai by the time her D-ranks were over. From delivering scrolls to resetting the forest's traps, she had her the entire two weeks.

She landed on a branch and began to search for the kid, she blended in well with her muted color scheme. Oh, she had missed hunting someone like this. She brought her hands together and summoned a snake. Those usually scared the brats she had to hunt before. She was going to have fun.

Yuzuki stared down at Anko from her spot in the trees. She had sweat going down her face and barely had control of her breathing. That woman was downright terrifying, she had caught up to her so quickly! She had to make her way to the tower, but with Anko chasing her it was going to be a battle. It was going to be worse than training with Genma. At least there he wasn't aiming for kill shots. Anko didn't care, if she ended up needing the hospital the purple haired kunoichi would think she was a waste of time. By outperforming what was expected of her she was showing what she could do, and that was dangerous.

She had no choice, she had done nothing during the mission with team seven, it wasn't really her place to do so. She looked down at her sandals and almost sighed. She didn't have time to think back to the mission where she was practically useless. Hayate was of more help, and that hurt a bit.

She jumped from the tree when a few kunai tore her from her thoughts. She had wasted too much time thinking. She twisted her body in mid air to dodge a few more and quickly performed a kawarimi to put some distance between them. The log that was where she had been was riddled with kunai when it landed. She was happy not to be turned into a living pin cushion.

"An academy level ninjutsu huh," Anko muttered, "You'll have to do better than that, brat."

She knew that, she knew that very well. She didn't really know that much ninjutsu besides the clone technique. Transformation wasn't going to help her now, and she wouldn't be able to get close enough to Anko without removing her weights. Hayate had told her to refrain from using the byakugan and from removing those. He wanted her to see just where she was in her skill level. She wasn't a match for a jonin, but a genin she was.

She had the Yamanaka clan jutsu's she could use, but would Anko stand still long enough for her to perform it? There were too many variables that made this too delicate of a situation. Her mind had already supplied to her that she wasn't in any true danger of death, so she was able to look at it from a point of view that seemed far too calm. She narrowed her eyes and decided on one thing.

Sprint for the tower and set up as many traps as she could until she reached it and handed over the mission scroll. This would be an exercise in stealth and speed. She needed to be able to get away when the situation called for it, or when there was something on the line. She wasn't in a three man squad, and wondered how she would be able to change the strategy to fit two other people. She shook her head and began that sprint by using the trees, she would try a new trick she had up her sleeve.

"There you are," Anko seemed to purr at the slight jolt of fear and shock that came from her.

"Hello, senpai!" Yuzuki greeted in a happy tone.

She dug into her kunai pouch and brought out a small tag and flicked it towards the older woman who dodged it with a smirk. She smirked back and quickly dropped to the forest ground as a purple cloud of smoke billowed from the tag. She had found those in the weapons shop and bought a small pack to see if she liked them. She quickly landed on her feet and jumped back as kunai hit the spots where she had been.

"Not bad, a distraction that allowed you to get your bearings," Anko complimented before laying into her, "But you aren't skilled enough to make it work in your favor yet, you don't have that killing edge in you."

She blinked at that. She had already killed before, what did she mean that she didn't have the edge in her? She dodged a punch to the face and brought her hand up in the defensive style of juken. She blocked the tenketsu within Anko's right arm, something she could do after so many years of learning the juken. She was grazed by a kick to the leg as she jumped back from the attack.

"Ah, a Hyuuga kid," Anko said as her arm hung by her side in a useless manner, "Maybe you do have a few tricks up your sleeve, not bad."

"Do you want me to unblock them now or later?" Yuzuki questioned much to Anko's surprise, "What? I thought we were having fun."

"Idiot," Anko informed her, "Do it later."

Yuzuki let out a low snort before dodging the kunai sent her way and observing the way that Anko fought. She was like a snake in the way that she struck out, always going for the kill. She appreciated that the other woman wasn't holding back. She met her in taijutsu, much to her dismay at being forced into close-combat, and winced at each hit that got a vital point. She didn't back down because Anko was right.

She really didn't have that killer's edge; she didn't fight to kill, just maim, or incapacitate.

"Too soft, brat," Anko informed her and she growled slightly.

She brought a hand back and landed a hit on Anko's chest, taking a nasty kick to her stomach. Both women seemed winded by the attacks but kept themselves standing. Anko realized that it would have been a lethal attack if the kid was using her juken with her chakra like she had with her arm.

"Now you're getting it."

Yuzuki gave her a look before activating the audio genjutsu seal in her hitai-ate. Anko was disoriented by it and that gave the dirty blonde more than enough time to sprint into the forest and get closer to the tower. She rubbed at her stomach and winced, there was some bruising there. She tossed a kunai to her side at a snake that had appeared. It seemed surprised that she had done so.

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to be attacked by a snake," She informed it in a soft tone as she removed the kunai from it's side and quickly bandaged it up, "Be safe, 'kay little guy?"

She quickly moved away from it before it could wrap around her. She chuckled quietly at the summons, she felt bad for injuring it. It was just doing what it was ordered to do. She quickly moved from the branches of the tree and pumped chakra to her legs to increase her speed as she ran on the flat forest ground. She was surprised at the speed she was able to gain from the addition of the chakra.

She reached the tower in the forest and quite literally slammed through the doors and into a wall, effectively startling the shinobi that had been waiting for her. She looked up at the scarred man who simply raised a brow at her and saluted him from her spot on the ground.

"Express delivery!" She chirped as she held out the scroll.

"Genma's brat?" He questioned.

"Genma's brat." She nodded.

He sighed at that and accepted the scroll. She had gotten to the tower faster than they thought she would. Anko was usually one that could toy with a person for hours. He watched as the kid deftly dodged a kunai sent her way with an amused expression on her face. She looked towards the doors where Anko was standing.

"Hello, Senpai!" She greeted.

"Don't _hello Senpai _me, brat!" Anko growled at her, "A low level genjutsu huh?"

"It's a seal that sewn into my hitai-ate," She replied in a calm tone, "It helps when being cornered by a person stronger than me, ne?"

She accepted the punch to the face, she did kind of deserve it. She might have put too much chakra into that seal and overpowered the genjutsu. She flew back and hit the ground with a dopey smile on her face. The man that had accepted the scroll sighed at the antics.

"Anko, don't kill her," He warned, "You'll have Genma and Hayate on your case if you do."

"Relax, I'm not gonna kill the brat," Anko huffed, "She's going to learn an actual genjutsu from me for making it here in one piece, she's crafty I'll give her that."

That was new, Anko usually didn't give compliments to people. The purple-haired kunoichi easily picked the girl up by the back of her uniform, said kid giving him a cheerful wave, before moving her towards the next part of her disciplinary D-Ranks.

"I think the Sandaime might need to find new disciplinary missions for that brat," He muttered, and one of the chunnin in the tower nodded their agreement, "She was far too cheerful."

"You really like to fuck with people, huh brat?" Anko questioned as they reached the first trap that needed maintenance and resetting.

"Are you telling me you don't?" Yuzuki asked.

Anko snorted at that and watched as the kid quickly worked with an ease that spoke of practice. She had it reset in a few minutes and hidden in less. That spoke of more skill than an academy understanding of trap setting. The kid had her secrets and definitely kept them close to her person, she was far too good at it for her liking.

"What else do you have up your sleeve?" Anko asked in an offhand way.

"I'm not stupid, senpai," Yuzuki informed her as they moved to the next trap, "Keeping secrets is normal in a village like this, and some of what I have up my sleeve are clan secrets."

The kid that belonged to two clans and was saved from bearing the caged bird seal of the Hyuuga clan. She looked into the pale eyes and narrowed her own. She was too calm compared to how she was earlier. It was quiet for a while as they went from trap to trap and she worked through them.

Lunch was a welcomed change of pace; the kid had made a bento for her. She looked down at the masterfully made food before looking towards the Yamanaka who had different food in hers. She could almost smell the sushi from where she sat. The scent of spiced tuna was very distinct. Anko wondered how early she woke up to be able to make boxed lunches that were this distinct. She shrugged her shoulders and dug into it; it was tasty.

"Who else did you make a lunch for?" Anko questioned.

"Hatake-Senpai and Shishou," She answered as she bit into a piece of homemade dango, "That man doesn't take care of himself and I was already making three."

Kid was confusing, and she didn't want to think about her actions anymore. She acted more like a grown woman than most of the kids she went to the academy with. She tossed a branch towards the kid and got an annoyed look in response.

"Wanna learn a genjutsu?"

"Fuck yeah."

Anko smirked at that response and began to explain. She was all for corrupting the kid, damn the fact that Genma would get angry. She could easily take on the older man. Now, to teach her how to fuck with a person's mind. She'd go with the Hell Viewing Technique first, it played on the parietal lobes and occipital lobes of the brain. Sensory inputs and processing visual information, respectively.

"Did you learn a lesson?" Hayate asked Yuzuki as he picked her up from the forest of death.

"That Anko-Senpai is awesome." She answered with a smile.

"Oh no," He muttered as he looked towards the purple-haired kunoichi who was smirking, "Don't try to steal my student."

"Once she enters torture and interrogation she'll be my student," Anko informed him, "I look forward to having a Kohai that actually learns what she's taught."

He didn't like the sound of that. He gave the woman an annoyed look and began to lead his student back to the village. He watched as her expression changed from a smile to a calm mask. She was far too good at putting on a mask and being able to act accordingly.

"She taught me a genjutsu, apparently I'm very good at it," She informed him.

"Which one?" He asked in a strained tone.

"Hell Viewing Technique," She answered, "The parts of the brain it deals with are sensory and processing, making it simple to mess with."

He hummed at that and she sent him a look that he was familiar with. He was glad that there was still some part of her that was normal. She looked away and he noted the thoughtful expression that made its way onto her face. She had been faced with an opponent that took her seriously and would maim or possibly kill her, yet she hadn't harmed Anko beyond blocking her chakra points. She was starting to learn that she didn't automatically go for the kill.

"You think too much," He told her, "That's why you don't go for the kill."

"I know," She muttered.

"You aren't a creature of instinct, but I don't doubt that you can learn how to be," He informed her, "It'll take a few missions and mishaps to learn it, but you will everyone does."

She looked at him and nodded her understanding. He went into the weapons shop and she followed him. He was looking for a few blades to give to her for when she began the chuunin exams. For now, he would watch to see what caught her eye. She wouldn't get it, but an idea of what she liked was nice. She looked at one that was currently bigger than her and one that was small enough to be holstered around her waist and on her back. She got a few more whetstones and the smoke tags, and they left. He followed her into a clothing store where she got leather and some cloth.

"Why cloth?" He asked her.

"I do know how to make clothes," She told him with a slight frown, "Some of what I own is too small for me, so I decided to make some."

She got more cloth than he knew what to do with. There were several spools of white, dusty blue, and black. He looked down at her uniform and noted that the pants were well above her ankles and the sleeves were reaching her mid arm. It had to be uncomfortable wearing clothes that were a bit tight.

"Konoha style or your style?" He asked as they left the store.

"My style, it'll be nice to have something I'm more familiar with," She answered with a strange expression on her face.

He understood that. He watched as a purple-haired ANBU went across one of the rooftops and he felt guilt burn in his gut. He had missed out on a wonderful relationship. He felt a hand on his shoulder blade and saw an understanding expression on his students face before she quickly moved away. She was more at an impasse than him, she felt weird trying to even think of a relationship with the children that were her physical age but knew that if she started to go after people older than her then they would get the brunt of the villages anger and disgust. She gave him a wave and he let her go for the day.

Yuzuki happily stepped into her home and removed her sandals. She stretched and put her bags down in the living room. She didn't have enough rooms to have a small workroom. She only had the bedroom, guestroom, and bathrooms upstairs. A small family home that her parents had left her. She'd have to build her own one of these days, just to have something that was a bit more western. She'd keep the small tiled entrance for her shoes, she liked that.

Wasn't a huge fan of the bathroom, too small for her liking.

She sighed at that thought and changed into a tank top and shorts so she could get an exact measurement for her new clothes.


	11. Chapter 11

11

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"It's a look," Genma stated as he took a bit of the eggs that Yuzuki had made for breakfast.

"Do I say that often enough that you picked it up?" She asked him with a strange expression on her face as she ate some as well.

He smirked in response and she sighed, she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him. She picked at the cuffs of her shirt and looked down at the clothes she had made over her two weeks of D-ranks. A white dress-shirt that was made from a heavy-duty cloth that was strong enough to protect her arms, with metal plating that was flexible and impossible to see. She even placed the plating within the black suit jacket and vest she had created for this shirt. She tugged at the collar and felt the metal plates protecting her neck.

"Is this a style you created?" Genma questioned her.

"It is my own style; do you want me to create you a shirt like this?" She asked him, "You might knock a few lady's dead, most do like a well-dressed man."

"Keep trying kiddo," He muttered as he ruffled her long locks in amusement.

He already had more luck with the ladies, thanks to her. Apparently, they liked a "single father". He picked up his toast and watched as Yuzuki quickly finished her breakfast and placed her dishes in the sink, seeing as he said he'd get cleanup. She moved to pick up the bento's that sat on her counter and placed them in a storage scroll. One of them was for him, he knew that by the senbon on the cloth that held the container. She rushed up the stairs with silent steps and came back down with a vest on and a her hitai-ate around her neck.

"I'm going to go deliver these, see you later!" She told him before heading out the front door with her jacket in hand and scroll in the kunai pouch around her waist.

He sat at the table in silence before chuckling. She looked like a tiny businesswoman in those clothes. She didn't really scream shinobi, but he felt as though she would fight better in such clothing than most would. It suited her way too well. What'd she call it again? _John Wick _style? He didn't even want to ask what she meant by that. He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee, a strong brew that had just a hint of vanilla and citrus. Leave it to her to have custom coffee beans, at least he liked this blend. Cranberry and coffee hadn't mixed, and he knew that she didn't care for it much either.

"Yo, Kakashi-senpai," Yuzuki greeted the silver haired man as she caught him at the KIA stone.

"Yuzuki-Kohai," He greeted, he went along with what she called him just to piss off Genma.

Any step up someone could get on the man was a win in their book. He accepted the bento that was held in a cloth that had small pugs and henohenomoheji littered on it without a second thought. Free food from a fellow Konoha Kunoichi was free food. It saved him the trouble of making his own. Not to mention she always added some broiled saury with salt or eggplant.

"Who's next on your lunch delivery?" He asked her as she gave a silent prayer to her parent's.

"Anko-Senpai, Shishou, and Naruto."

That last one was recent. She noticed that he truly was the smallest out of the recently graduated genin. She felt it was her duty as a friend to make sure he had some lunch. Kakashi was thinking that Genma's habit of being a mother hen was rubbing off on his kid. The less said about her sense of fashion the better. He couldn't tell if she was trying to usher in a new age or not with such clothes.

"Well, see you later senpai!" She chirped before heading out.

He gave a lazy wave and stored his bento in a scroll for later.

Yuzuki gave a sigh as she looked around for Naruto, he should've been the easiest one to find with how much chakra he leaked but he was out of the area. She had gotten a message from Hayate that he'd be in a meeting and to not worry about him, after the fact that she made him lunch. She scratched the back of her head as another person asked where she had gotten her clothes. Apparently, her sense of fashion was rather interesting, and people wanted to buy something similar. If she ever had to retire from being a ninja she would defiantly start up her own fashion line, she'd have a whole monopoly on the industry. She smiled at such a thought and scared a few people around her.

"Ah, there he is," She muttered as she headed over to where his chakra was.

She blinked at the situation that she had walked into. She took out a few senbon and easily flicked them into the hand of the boy that held the Sandaime's grandson. She easily rushed forward and caught the boy. She knew Konohamaru, she's babysat for him before as a D-Rank much to his chagrin, and saw the relief on the boy's face.

"Yuzu-nee-Chan!" Konohamaru exclaimed in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy that now had senbon in his hand questioned.

She studied the boy and make quick mental notes. Dark clothing, purple face makeup, a bundle wrapped in bandages on his back, and a Suna hitai-ate. There was a girl standing behind him with blonde hair in multiple pigtails and light grey clothing, a fan on her back, also from Suna. She knew why they were in the area, and gave a quiet sigh as she put Konohamaru down.

"I'm Yamanaka Yuzuki, and if you guys want to partake in the Chuunin Exams I'd advise against threatening the Hokage's grandson," She warned with a kind smile, "Also, it might just make _me _mad and you really don't want that."

The smile on her face slowly turned into something that gave the other boy chills. He was reminded of his brother. Her eyes snapped to the side and she tilted her head back. There he was! He was so screwed.

"Are you their teammate?" She asked a redhead that was standing upside down on a tree branch, his arms crossed across his chest.

He disappeared from sight and Konohamaru hid behind Yuzuki's legs. She wasn't fazed as the boy appeared in front of her, sand particles flying around him. Ah, he had to be a kid of the Kazekage. It was a family jutsu.

"I'm sorry for the trouble he caused," the redhead said.

"It's all right," she said before turning to the taller boy, "Would you like me to remove the senbon?"

He thrust his hand out and she quickly removed them. He brought his hand back and rubbed at the throbbing skin. She had thrown them to hit several nerves in his hand. She was getting rather good with senbon. Having a man who was a professional in the field of throwing small needles was a key factor for that. She believed that he could even use the one he kept in his mouth. She had never thought of using chakra that way, and it wasn't a normal phenomenon.

"So, who are you three?" She asked them, "And Uchiha, it's rude to watch a conversation not to mention kind of creepy."

"I swear you have eyes in the back of your head, Yuzuki-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed and she gave him an amused smile.

"Sabaku no Gaara." The red head answered as she looked back towards him.

"It's nice to meet you," She gave a small bow and turned to the other two with a tiny smile.

"Sabaku no Kankuro," The tall boy said with a frown.

"Sabaku no Temari," The girl answered with a small smile of her own, "We need to get going."

"Right, it was nice meeting you," Yuzuki said, and she truly meant it.

It was nice meeting someone that seemed like her. They were all soldiers and they had seen blood. She could tell, just by the look in their eyes. She twisted the long needle in her fingers before putting the senbon away.

"What were you doing here, Yuzuki?" Sakura asked her and Yuzuki seemed a little shocked to see her.

"I made a bento for Naruto," She answered as she unsealed it and handed it over to the throughly shocked blonde, "I would've left it with Kakashi-Senpai, but I feel as though he wouldn't have given it to you."

"Thank you, Yuzuki-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a large grin on his face as he accepted the cloth wrapped box.

"Are you the boss's girlfriend, Yuzu-nee-chan?" Konohamaru asked her and she let out a low chuckle.

"No, I'm just a good friend who believes everyone deserves a good lunch."

"Boss you are so lucky! Yuzu-nee-chan's cooking is really good!"

Yuzuki smiled as the strange group talked amongst themselves. She missed babysitting Konohamaru, he was a sweet kid when he wanted to be. She scratched the back of her head as she noticed the snobbish look that Sakura was giving her. She wondered if she was going to have to hit her to make her stop. She really had no room to judge since she wore a dress to combat.

"Where'd you get the weird clothes?" Naruto asked her.

"I made them," She said in a slightly weak voice, "Are they really weird?"

"Way to go boss," Konohamaru hissed at the blonde.

Naruto was stuttering as he tried to apologize for saying the clothes she made were weird. She gave him a tiny smile at that and brought a hand up to ruffle his hair. She wasn't too bothered by his words, just acting like she was just to mess with him. She was brought out of her thoughts by someone tugging on the hem of her suit jacket.

"Where'd you learn how to throw senbon like that?" A little girl with pigtails asked her.

"Ah, a really good friend of mine showed me a trick that helps," She answered as she took a senbon out and knelt so the girl could see, "It comes down to the way you flick your wrist, try like this and it hits with as much strength as you want."

She let the senbon fly with the way she was showing the girl and it hit a nearby fence. The girl gained an awed look and she couldn't help but be reminded of herself at that age being shown how to fire a rifle by her grandfather. She may hate the man now, but learning such things had always been cool. It almost hurt seeing such a familiar look on the kids face.

"Nice trick," The Uchiha said as he finally came down from the tree.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me," She informed him before sighing, "Well, I'll be off."

"What do I do with the bento container!?" Naruto called after her.

"Come by my place and drop it off, don't worry about it!" She called back.

She got a yell of understanding and she smiled. She narrowed her eyes at a tree and clicked her tongue. It appears Hayate was right, the chuunin exams were a fixed point in time. Some people might be younger than they were the previous timeline, Hayate especially, but Oto-non in Konoha was something that would always happen. She scratched at her cheek in annoyance, she had trouble understanding how a new village could be so stupid.

"Maybe some training will clear my head," She muttered as she went down a different road and towards area 44.

She had grown fond of the training grounds near the forest of death, and they were usually free. Few people liked it like she and Anko did. The forest was dangerous, but once you understood the dangers it was like a walk in the park. After all, a giant tiger was no match for genjutsu.

She reached the training grounds and decided to eat the bento that was for Hayate. It was no use letting food go to waste and she would make him a new one tomorrow. She was a quick eater, something that was normal for her. If you didn't finish your food in the allotted time in the mess hall then that's all you got to eat. One learned to eat fast after the first few times.

She settled on taijutsu first to help loosen her muscles and see if such clothes were sturdy enough in case of a surprise fight. These were her civilian clothes, something that she'd rarely fight in unless she had to, though she might change that. The clothes moved with her body like a second skin. It breathed and allowed cool air to hit her sweaty skin.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a chakra appearing behind her and brought her foot back into a high kick that would easily hit the head and knock whoever it was out. Her foot was blocked, and she dodged an attack to her own head by ducking. She looked up at Hayate and blew her bangs out of her face in slight annoyance at him. He looked amused at the fact she was training in clothes she was so used to.

"I was able to find you team for the chuunin exams," He informed her, "Here's your form, it stays on your person until the exam."

She didn't even have to ask for a pen. She read through the entire thing, much to Hayate's amusement, and signed her name. She wasn't afraid of death, she had already died and doing a second time would probably hurt less. Ninja also died fast, even after interrogation, so that was a plus.

"What kind of team will it be?" She asked.

"Search and rescue, but technically hunter-nins," He answered, "Their third member's in the hospital and told the other two to go ahead."

"Meaning I won't get a chance like this a second time," She sighed, "I already saw the oto-nin, their chakra is strange."

"Explain."

"It collects in their arms, well, save for the female," She muttered, "And it stays there, collecting chakra like that is dangerous because it can overload your tenketsu and cause your limbs to explode."

He tapped a finger against his chin in thought. He would have to keep an eye on the group and their sensei. He was brought out of his thoughts by Yuzuki slowly going back to training, having nothing else to say. She had moved on from taijutsu, he would love to see her train with Gai and try to keep up with him, and was now practicing her aim. She had perfect aim and was making each target.

He put his hand in his pocket and thumbed a scroll. He wanted to give her a present now but decided to wait until after dinner. He was staying for dinner as an apology for not being able to accept the bento she made, and then ate.

"You should tell Genma," He told her, and she looked at him with a frown.

"Tell him what?" She asked.

"That you're a reborn soul," He answered, "He's more accepting than others about such things."

"Well, you just informed Hatake about that," She sighed and turned to one of the trees, "You can come out, Kakashi."

The silver haired jonin appeared and gave her a distrustful look. She knew that was the end of her peaceful training and she began to walk home. She couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that Kakashi had appeared when Hayate had said that. She knew that the less people that knew she was a reborn soul, the better. She didn't need that kind of complications, just still being ahead of the world was enough.

"Woah, what's with the entourage?" Genma asked as the ragtag group entered the home.

"Well, we all need to talk," Hayate stated.

That's how Hayate and Yuzuki found themselves in the dining room with tea trying to explain the fact that one of them was a reborn soul and the other was given a second chance. The moment that Yuzuki tried to explain and got frustrated was the moment that Kakashi backed off a bit and opened his mind up. She ran a hand through her dirty-blonde locks in a way to show she wasn't lying.

"That nightmare you had, a few nights ago, it was a memory wasn't it?" Genma asked her.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say it was my first taste of a battle," She softly answered, "Where I'm from we haven't fought with hand knives in wars for almost two hundred years, we use guns for all wars…I was the best shot out of my whole squad and was sent out on the rescue mission."

"You practice the Yamanaka Justus, is there anyway to show us what you're talking about or more about your world?" Hayate offered.

He watched as she turned to him with a blank expression before dropping a single curse. _Motherfucker_, his student had such a way with words sometimes. She held up her hand and performed a few signs before the three jonin's world went dark. They almost panicked for a few seconds before a loud sound got their attention.

They looked around when everything lit up and saw her previous life in motion. It was like watching a film reel and seeing what she went through. They almost missed the female figure next to them that was watching along side them, a sad look on her face. The reel focused on two faces, her older brother, and her niece.

"I still miss them," She admitted, and it was Yuzuki who was speaking, "My only regret was leaving them alone."

"Your mind is so empty," Genma informed her.

"Thanks, dad," She huffed.

"Dad huh? I'm a far too young to be your dad," He teased.

She looked ready to hit him. She missed the expression that Kakashi sent her, it was one of complete understanding and sympathy. He had noted the distinct lack of a father in her memories and more of a presence of her grandfather and he could tell she absolutely hated the man. There was a deep-set anger there. He understood her a bit better after seeing that reel, her problem of hiding information so close to her now had a reason. She stopped the jutsu and he watched as she swayed in her seat.

"Well, at least your future team can count on long distance communication," Genma said.

"I hate you," She grumbled, sounding more like the twelve-year-old she looked than the thirty-year-old she should've been.

"Yeah, that's why you call me dad," He teased, and he watched as she narrowed her eyes at him.

He knew that warning and wisely backed off. She huffed out a sigh and slowly got up from her chair and moved into the kitchen. She was going to start dinner, and he was excited for what she was going to make. He saw that she had beef in the fridge, and he was hoping that it was ground so he could have a burger.

"Don't go around telling people this," Hayate sighed, "The Hokage already knows, the man has eyes and ears everywhere and it's not just the ANBU squads…welcome to an S-rank secret."

"It makes sense why she has problems connecting with the other children," Genma said as he picked up his teacup and took a sip of the lukewarm liquid, "She can't relate to their naïve way of seeing the world."

"It also makes sense as to why she dislikes Sakura so much," Kakashi sighed as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Believe it or not, she never had any problems with Sakura before," Hayate informed the man, "Your student did that to herself."

"She sings praises out of her ass for a boy who doesn't give two shits about her and she physically harms the one that does like her," Yuzuki said as she came into the dining room with a frown, "She also dislikes me, it's a mutual dislike."

Kakashi hummed at that and she raised a brow at him. He was removed from his chair and dragged to the kitchen. There was an unspoken rule in her house about pushing her patience too far. Genma learned the first time she forced him to help her cook, and Hayate learned from that one experience as well.

"Rule one of my house, don't stress me out so much," She informed him, "Anyone who does will be forced to help in the kitchen, I do hope you can cook."

"You've done this to Genma, haven't you?" Kakashi asked as he heard Genma's laugh.

"Yep," She confirmed, "It's Sukiyaki tonight, so I just need the ingredients cut and the hot pot out."

He grabbed one of the kitchen knives and began to slice the ingredients up. It was easier just to do as she said and get a free meal out of the whole ordeal than to leave. She had certain quirks that confused a few of her peers, but made sense if one factored in the previous twenty-three years.

"What made you make Genma help in the kitchen?" He asked her in a light tone.

"Marriage discussions," She grumbled, "He thought that I had a crush on Shikamaru…but that would be a bit weird for someone like me."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"More than I care to…anyone that seems right would look too old form me, but I have no feelings towards the people my physical age…I'm at an impasse, yeah."

It made sense, in a twisted way. He held up the sliced ingredients and she fished some sukiyaki sauce from the fridge. She had made far too much the last time she cooked the dish. They both went back into the dining room to see Genma and Hayate manning the hot pot. It seemed as though they were thinking of it like a restaurant.

"It's a bit warm for a hot pot," Genma commented.

"Ha-ha, trust me it's not," She informed him as the ingredients were set down and she went back in for eating utensils.

She took the time to think. Kakashi was loyal to Konoha, but seemed ready to keep their secret. She hadn't known that the Hokage was aware of them, but it was nice to see that he wasn't going to put them in a cell just yet, and it made dealing with Kakashi easier. Genma was never going to be a problem, he had such an open mind, she thanked the Yondaime for that. She paused in grabbing a few chopsticks, a sudden horrible thought in her head. Danzo, what about Danzo and root? She rushed back into the dining room with the utensils and stared at Hayate.

"We forgot about Danzo and root," She informed him, "If the Hokage has eyes everywhere what about Danzo?"

The three jonin thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a collective curse. Danzo was a thorn in everyone's side, but one that was so close to the Hokage and could cause problems. Dinner was spent trying to think of ways to get around said man, or making sure she was always around someone. Hayate was safer in that retrospect seeing as he was a jonin and could take care of himself.

"The plot thickens," Genma muttered, "Still, can't see you as anything more than that goofy kid that'd take a few kicks for a cat."

"Like I said, it didn't deserve to be harmed because a few boys wanted to stroke their egos." She was frowning and it seemed as though something he had been looking for was answered.

It was still his kid, granted she was mentally older than she should be but still _his_ kid. He would stay the night, making sure to grab the guestroom for the bed, to keep an eye on her. He almost felt like having her move out of the house and into an apartment near them would be easier. He already knew that she wanted to save up money to buy a plot of land to build a house more tailored to her tastes.

"That's my girl." He commented with a smile.

She grinned back. The scroll Hayate gave her held a tanto and long tachi, her grin grew even wider. It was a bit scary to see a tall preteen holding onto two swords with a grin on her face, even more so knowing that she had an adult mentality.

* * *

**The secrets out, it's going to be interesting writing this now that Genma and Kakashi are aware of the two. As Genma said, the plot thickens. **


	12. Chapter 12

**I seem to forget to say that this becomes an AU after the chuunin exams, like you'll know what changes were made when we come across it.**

* * *

12

* * *

"Shouldn't you be with your students to wish them luck?" Yuzuki asked Kakashi as she came down the stairs in her normal shinobi uniform.

"They can miss me for a few more minutes," Kakashi smiled at her.

She could tell he had been going to his therapy sessions, he seemed a little more relax compared to the first time they had met. She hummed at his answer and grabbed a piece of fruit. The exam happened at the academy and there was a food vender there, so hopefully she could buy some bread. A curry bun sounded good, it was quick and simple. If not, then she could probably send puppy dog eyes at Choji until he cracked.

"You'll be late if you don't head out," Kakashi informed her and she gave him the look.

She gave him the Genma look of a disappointed parent. He was able to ignore it as she headed out her front door. He sat there in her dining room, nursing a cup of coffee, and mulled over the S-rank secret he had been able to learn the night before. He had to make sure the way he treated her wasn't any different from before. Too many would be able to catch it if he were to do so. She had made things difficult without meaning to, she was still able to treat him the same.

Yuzuki looked at the team she was temporarily placed with. Two boys that were much taller than her, short dark hair, and dark eyes with tan skin. She gave them a small smile and bowed in greeting. They sized her up just like she had done to them.

"Think you can make it, kid?" they asked her in unison, twins then.

"Yes, I believe I can," She smiled, "I have a certain person I need to wipe the floor with."

It was said so casually they couldn't tell if she was messing with them or not. She wasn't, but that was beside the point. She needed to make it to chuunin to get missions that made her more money and then she could become a jonin and take on missions that paid more. She also wanted that guaranteed spot in torture and interrogation due to her Yamanaka heritage.

"Let's head in, yeah?" She asked.

The two boys gave a nod and they entered the academy. They went up a flight of stairs and noticed a large group of people standing around, muttering to one another. She raised a brow in disbelief and wondered why they were reamining on the second floor, they needed to be on the third. She moved towards the next flight of stairs and the two boys blinked in confusion.

"Where are you going?" They asked her.

"How many flights of stairs did you just go up?" She asked them in a calm manner.

"One, oh."

She gave them a kind smile and they joined her. She hadn't been rude about it, and they weren't expecting that from a Hyuuga, even a mixed one. They entered the exam room and followed the females lead and quietly sit down. It allowed them time to study the room and make plans.

"Those kids from Sunagakure are scary," one of the boys said.

"I can see why you think that, but two of them have an obvious weakness in the way they fight," Yuzuki muttered and they turned to her, "The blonde uses a fan and as such it's easy to tell her nature type is wind, a few earth or fire jutsus would stall her for sure. And the guy with purple face makeup might be a puppet type so long-range fighting would work best."

"Attack the joints of the puppet and you'll break it," a silver haired teen said as he walked up to the group, he held his hands up in defense at the narrowed eyes, "Relax, I just couldn't help but overhear, it sounded interesting."

"Right," Yuzuki muttered.

He seemed nice, but a churning in her gut told her not to trust him. Something was…off and she didn't know what. She needed to know his name, Hayate had talked about a teen with silver hair and glasses being the reason why he died but she had met a few silver haired people in this world. It was hard to just fixate on one. She didn't have much trouble when it came to Kakashi, but she liked him and didn't have a personal vendetta against him.

"Sasuke-kun you're late!" A familiar voice exclaimed and Yuzuki gave a soft snort.

"That's Ino for ya," She muttered in a fond tone.

"Ino?" One of the boys asked.

"One of my cousins, the other is Hinata-chan," She answered as she motioned towards the Hyuuga heiress.

"Let's go talk to them," One of the boys said with a grin as he got up from his chair and hooked an arm around Yuzuki's shoulder, "It's only polite that we introduce ourselves to your friends and family."

_Wait, what_? Yuzuki was so confused as she was dragged over to her loud cousin by the two boys who made up her temporary team. They watched as a far too familiar pinkette yelled at the blonde and couldn't help but find her annoying, that was one person they felt wasn't friends with their new teammate.

"Oh, you found a temporary team," Shikamaru commented as he walked up to Yuzuki and put his hands in his pockets, "Glad to see you could make it."

"Like I'd be the only one of the rookie ten to miss the exams," She chuckled, "How's it been being on a team with Ino?"

"It's a drag." He answered with a slight sigh as his shoulders slumped.

Yuzuki laughed at that and his eyebrows raised. She had never laughed at something he said before, he knew that she understood that he wasn't serious about half the things he said but she had never shown anything other than a humored look. Maybe being an apprentice had been the best thing for her, she seemed a bit happier. He let a slight smile appear on his face.

"I'm Watanabe Daichi," Said one of the boys before he pointed towards the other, "And this is Eiji."

The impressive first son and the second born one, Yuzuki couldn't help but feel bad for them. They were labeled by their names, and it was almost impossible to have fun with such names. Shikamaru seemed to share that thought as he shared a look with her.

"Hey, so you guys finally showed up!" Kiba Inuzuka loudly said as he walked up to the group of recently graduated genin.

"A-Ah, h-hello," Hinata greeted as she shyly looked to the side.

"I guess everyone's here," Kiba commented as he looked at everyone, "I'm surprised you showed up, Yuzuki."

"Why's that?" She asked with a frown.

"Well, you weren't the best in the academy," He explained with a slight smirk on his face, "So, I doubt you really learned enough to use those swords properly."

"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed.

"Agreed," She muttered before speaking up, "I guess we'll just have to see."

Daichi and Eiji looked at their newest member and then back at the Inuzuka. They couldn't help but wonder how a kid could be so stupid. She was average in the academy? She had noticed the genjutsu on the second floor the moment she stepped foot in it. They wondered just what kind of plan she had if she had scored average in everything at the academy, which was suspicious since everyone had something that they excelled in and to have nothing was a red flag.

"I wouldn't count her out just yet." Those words from the Uchiha had surprised everyone.

"Yeah, that's right!" Naruto exclaimed, "And we won't be losing to the likes of you, Kiba!"

"S-Sorry Naruto, K-Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way," Hinata softly explained.

Hinata caught the fond look that was sent her way by her "favorite" cousin. She gave a soft smile towards the taller girl and saw a smile appear on her face. The two of them looked to the side as the white-haired teen from earlier walked up to them. Daichi and Eiji were on alert when he did, the fact that he was trying the same trick twice bothered them.

"You guys should be quieter," He warned them, "You guys are rookies fresh out of the academy, right? You don't need to be screaming like schoolgirls."

"Valid point," Yuzuki said as she sent a pointed look towards Ino.

Ino rolled her eyes but let out an amused huff. She was used to Yuzuki saying such things to her, being highly annoyed at her love for Sasuke. She knew it was true, while her cousin believed it to be an obsession or fixation.

"Get in all the cheap shots you can," Ino informed the dirty blonde.

"Who do you think you are?" The Uchiha asked the teen.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, but that's not important," He answered, "Look behind you."

As the genin did he looked towards Yuzuki and tried to gauge her reactions. She hadn't reacted to his name, luckily but her mind was reeling. She couldn't believe that it was the kid that Hayate warned her about. She needed to keep an eye on him, without calling attention to herself. She clenched her jaw before clearing her mind like Inoichi taught her to. She needed to keep a clear mind to push through this.

"Don't worry about everyone glaring at us," She piped up and the remaining rookies and her teammates looked at her in confusion, "It's an intimidation tactic, it's to unnerve you and make you make mistakes."

"Ha ha, it took me until my third time to catch that, but you got it on your first," Kabuto commented, "You're pretty sharp."

"Are you an intel-nin?" She asked him and he gave a nod.

"How many times have you taken these exams?" Sakura asked.

"This exam is held twice a year, and this is my fourth year," He answered.

"Eighth times the charm," Yuzuki commented, "It must've been pretty difficult in the other villages, at least you don't give up."

"Okay, I now officially wish you were our teammate," Eiji chuckled as he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, you'd get a free lunch seeing as I make bento's for people," She grumbled.

"Why don't I share some info with you tiny rookies," Kabuto offered, "Anything you want to know about someone?"

"Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee," Uchiha stated.

"Oh, knowing their names makes this easy."

Yuzuki didn't trust the smile that Kabuto had. She looked at the info cards he had before looking towards Naruto. The boy looked so confused that she felt bad for him. The teachers at the academy really did sabotage him, she's proud that he was able to become a genin. He was one of those people that charmed you and wormed his way into your heart and stayed there. She wished him nothing but happiness.

"Okay, Rock Lee is a year older than you guys and finished twenty D-Rank, and twelve C-Rank mission," Kabuto said as he looked at the ninja card, "His sensei is Gai and his taijutsu improved greatly in this year, the rest is nothing important…he graduated last year but didn't participate in the exam so this is his first time like you guys. His teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten."

Yuzuki and Hinata flinched at the mention of Neji's name. The Heiress was worse and seemed stressed at the idea of the boy being in the exams. He had such anger at the main branch that clan problems might be aired to the public. Yuzuki looked down at her feet as she realized that if he went too far, she'd have to step in and stop him as per clan rules. She would have to protect Hinata, which she was okay with. She adored her shy cousin.

"Sabaku no Gaara, he did eight C-Rank and one B-Rank which is impressive for a genin, he's a new comer from a foreign country so there isn't much information but it seems that he returned from all his missions without a single scratch," Kabuto informed everyone.

"Yuzuki?" Daichi asked as he looked at a suddenly thoughtful and calculating girl.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," She muttered, "This is going to be an interesting exam."

She looked towards the door and raised a brow under her long fringe. Kakashi had been standing there for a few minutes, it was like he was keeping an eye on his team. It was kind of sweet of him, but also annoying. If he had really cared he would have trained them, and trained them hard. He used to be the ANBU captain for fucks sake!

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I won't lose to you bastards!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the genin in the room, "You got that!?"

"What is he?" Ino questioned Sakura as Yuzuki snickered under her breath.

"He's great," She muttered before sending an amused look towards Naruto, "That probably felt cathartic."

He let out a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. She moved and pulled him out the way from Sakura, surprising the pinkette and blonde equally. She brought a hand down and hit the girl on the head instead. Ino seemed surprised and noted the look in her cousin's eyes, the girl was completely done with her rival.

"You really need to control your temper," Yuzuki stated, "Naruto may be kind, but I am not, you go to hit him one more time around me and I will hit _you_. He doesn't deserve your abuse."

"Yuzuki," Ino muttered as it finally sunk in why she reacted so negatively to Naruto being hit.

She never talked about her mother and father, but from what her father said they had been so distant and cold to her. She wouldn't doubt that they had hit her at one point. That explains the therapy she had to go through since she hadn't reacted to losing her parents. She had just…accepted it, like there had never been any form of connection to them.

"You better watch your back," Sakura hissed as she clutched at her head.

"Hey, Yuzu-chan had a point," Eiji piped up with a frown on his face, "You were going to hit your teammate just because he got something off his chest and tried to pump himself up."

"Besides, do unto others that you want done to you," Daichi said, "You should know the golden rule."

Kabuto sighed at the genin, and wisely stayed out of it. Though the fact that he moved closer to Yuzuki showed silent agreement. He looked behind him when he felt chakra rushing towards him. Yuzuki reacted as well and turned her head while activating the byakugan, two oto-nin had rushed him and he jumped back to dodge the attack. He looked confident but the shattering of his glasses caught everyone's attention. He looked confused before his stomach revolted and he ended up on the floor.

"Ah, so that's what that was," Yuzuki muttered as she deactivated her byakugan.

A wave of chakra had come from the boy that had attacked him. Daichi and Eiji quickly moved her away from the group since they seemed to be attracting the most attention. They stood towards the back of the room as the proctor appeared and yelled at them to shut up.

"Thank you for waiting, I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chuunin selection exam's first test," He informed them he pointed at the oto-nins, "Otogakure shinobi, stop doing as you please before the exam, do you want to fail?"

"I apologize, this is our first time and we got a bit carried away," the leader of the three nin said, his voice muffled behind the bandages that covered his face before he lumbered away.

"This is a good opportunity to say this, there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner," Ibiki informed the room of genin, "Even if permission is granted, killing will not be tolerated…those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Yuzuki muttered as she stared at the man with a blank expression.

"We will now start the first test in the chuunin exam, instead of your current seating," He continued and he held up a small box, "You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you and then we will hand out the exams."

Yuzuki sighed as she sat next to Gaara. She hadn't missed written tests from her time in public school, but she knew that it wasn't just the written part. She looked at the proctors that lined the walls and closed her eyes as Ibiki explained the point systems. Cheating subtracted two points for each offense and that's where she understood the test. This was to see how they gathered information, true some of the shinobi around her could answer the questions from studying, but on a mission one didn't have the luxury to do so.

"The final question won't be given until the end of the written exam," Ibiki informed them, "You have an hour to do this test, now begin."

Yuzuki flipped her test over and stared at the questions. The first one was a cryptogram and she easily solved it and noted that it was just nonsense words. She could answer every one of the questions, and chanced a glance towards her teammates, they seemed a bit confused and worried. She sighed and knew that she might have to use the mind transfer jutsu. She couldn't disappoint her teachers and friends.

She closed her eyes and took in a soft breath and quickly went through each question. She caught the attention of a few proctors and Ibiki. He raised a brow as the first paper in the room was turned over and a pencil was put down. He thought back to his files on each of the genin. Yamanaka Yuzuki had been one of those people who hadn't stood out, but here she was the first one done with the test and slumped over on the desk, dead asleep. He remembered her from when she had to do the disciplinary D-Ranks with Anko, said woman was waiting for the girl to promote to teach her everything she knew about torture.

He almost smirked. Yamanaka and their mind jutsu, she had done it quickly enough not to get caught. A second paper was slowly turned over and then a third before the girl seemed to move and wake up. She had done that within the span of fifteen minutes, he would have to steal that girl for his department and soon. She looked up and her eyes met his, she wasn't even breaking a sweat. She was calm, especially for a test like this.

Her teammates looked confused before they looked behind them to see Yuzuki. She gave them a wink and smiled at them, they slumped in slight relief and rested their heads on the desk. They made it through the exam part without a problem. They were extremely glad they had a Yamanaka on their side.

"You finished already?" Gaara muttered next to her.

"I'm well versed in situations without probability," She mumbled.

He went silent after that and performed a jutsu of his own. She watched as an eye made of sand appeared in his hand before he crushed it. She couldn't help but think it was cool, it was a genuinely interesting way to gather information.

"Okay, that's fucking cool," She couldn't help but mutter.

He didn't react to it. He just got the answers he needed and finished the test. Yuzuki stared out the window and at the clouds in the sky. The proctor that was sitting where she was staring seemed to be unnerved. He couldn't tell where exactly she was looking, little did he know that she just thought that one of the clouds looked like the Pug that Kakashi summoned.

It was a really weird cloud.

"We will now start the tenth question," Ibiki announced and those that were finished with the test perked up.

The unsaid _finally_ could almost be heard by the chuunin and jonin in the room. Ibiki didn't even need to smirk to feel amused by the genin, they were a spirited bunch with a few interesting brats mixed in. His gaze passed over the room and he narrowed his eyes slightly when one of the Suna genin came back from the restroom.

"Nice timing," He told the boy, "Was your doll playing beneficial? Just sit down."

"Yes, sir," Kankuro muttered before walking back to his seat, passing something to his sister.

"I'll explain now, these are the rules of desperation," Ibiki continued, "First, for the tenth question you must decide whether you will or will not take it."

"Choose? What happens if we choose not to!?" Temari asked from her spot in the back.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero and you will fail along with your teammates." He answered.

"Oh, this is genius," Yuzuki couldn't help but extract some glee from the panic around her.

Gaara sent her a look as she sat back with a slight smile on her face. She held up two fingers and activated a jutsu. She connected to Daichi and Eiji and felt the strain on her chakra from how far she was trying to communicate from. She just needed to give them a message.

"Don't worry about him, we'll stay," She informed them, "We can do this, so don't let him discourage you."

Daichi and Eiji relaxed at that and sat back as well. Yuzuki dropped the jutsu and made a mental note to use that jutsu more to make sure it didn't drain her as much. It was dead useful. She blinked as she realized that she had done that over the panic and missed what was asked and what Ibiki had said.  
Well, hopefully her gut feeling was correct. She watched as team after team left because of the pressure.

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto yelled at Ibiki, "I will not run! I'll take it, even if I'm a genin forever, I will become Hokage, so I don't care, I am not afraid!"

"I'll ask you again," Ibiki said, "Your life is riding on this decision, this is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words, that's my ninja way," Naruto replied.

Ibiki looked across the room once more. The genin inside had relaxed and seemed determined and were giving him looks. He caught the grin on Yuzuki's face as she looked towards the blonde. It appears she had expected him to yell out but was surprised at what he had yelled.

"Well, now to everyone still remaining," Ibiki said and he saw some of that determination falter, "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

"What do you mean, we already passed?" Sakura asked, "What about the tenth question."

"There wasn't one," He replied with a grin, "Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question."

"Hey! Then what was the first nine questions for?" Temari barked, "Were they pointless?"

"They were not pointless, they had already served their intended purpose," He explained, "To test your individual information gathering ability, that is the purpose. A chuunin will lead missions and to do so one must think under pressure and gather correct information, and sometimes information is more important that life."

He had removed his bandana, and everyone paled, except for a few kids. He had burn scars, screw holes, and even kunai scars that littered his head. He had the signs of physical torture on his skin, but the mental torture was left unsaid. Yuzuki checked out of the explanation as she looked towards the window, she could sense Anko out there. She was waiting to see what the woman had planned. Was she the proctor for the next part?

She really hoped so, the woman was an absolute unit of insanity.

She grinned as the window broke and a cloth came through before being pinned to the ceiling by kunai. It hung down and covered Ibiki from sight, much to Yuzuki's amusement. She felt as though her senpai was getting some form of payback for something. She would really love to know.

"This is no time to be celebrating!" Anko informed the genin, "I will be your proctor for the second test, Mitarashi Anko, now let's go, follow me!"

"Bad timing," Ibiki informed her as he moved the banner she had created, and she gained a light pink dusting to her cheeks due to embarrassment.

"You left thirty teams?" Anko questioned him, "The test was too easy this time."

"This time there are a lot of outstanding ones," He countered.

"That's fine, I'll cut them in half during the second test," She stated as a smirk grew on her face, "I'll explain everything once we've changed places, follow me."

The genin got up from their seats and followed the purple-haired woman out of the academy. Ibiki stayed behind and gathered the tests, he was curious as to how some of the genin did. He picked up Naruto's and gave a low chuckle at the fact that he passed a kid who didn't answer a single question. He moved towards Yuzuki's seat and picked her's up and glanced through it. Well thought out answers written in neat script; he was expecting that. He wasn't expecting a perfect score, and she was able to do so with all three tests.

"We need to get her in T&I," He muttered.

* * *

"Another form?" Daichi grumbled as the group filled out the agreement form.

"Well, it is saying that we consent to our possible demise," Yuzuki smiled.

"How are you this unfazed?" The Uchiha asked as he walked past, hearing such words.

"_We have nothing to fear but fear itself_," She quoted at him and he sent her a look.

Her team finished signing the forms and got their scroll. They held a heaven scroll, and chose Eiji to hold onto it. He was a long-distance fighter and as such was the best person to hold onto it. They stood at their gate with a jonin and Yuzuki smiled at Hayate. He simply sent her a look as they waited to be let in. She really wished she had brought a lunch with her, at least she knew the forest like the back of her hand thanks to Anko.

"Good luck you three," Hayate told them, "You may enter the forest."

"Five ryo says we'll hear a scream not even five minutes in the forest," Yuzuki said.

"I'll take that bet," Daichi grinned.

"Well, he'll be out of five ryo," Hayate muttered as the team rushed into the forest, and in less than one minute a scream rang out followed by a distinct _damn it_.

He really hoped that his student made it through the second exam. He knew that Orochimaru hid inside the forest, their best bet was to get in and get out. They needed to be quick so they wouldn't be attacked by the evil snake shinobi.


	13. Chapter 13

**I changed the name of this fic since I wasn't a huge fan of the original one. The cover art was changed but it's only temporary. A better one is currently being drawn but it might take a while before it is published. I need to hone my skills.**

* * *

13

* * *

Yuzuki stared down at the team stationed below them. They had stopped running and took refuge in a large tree to wait for another team to show up, and their luck pulled through for them. She shared a look with Daichi and Eiji and activated her byakugan. She quickly looked for a scroll and narrowed her eyes before deactivating it and shaking her head. It was a heaven scroll. It wasn't what they needed.

Daichi signed for them to continue and they jumped from the branches. They needed to find an earth scroll and get to the tower if they didn't it could end up being a problem. She clenched her jaw and let out a silent sigh. She would rather not attack one of her fellow rookies, but she knew they'd be the easiest targets, and she felt bad for thinking such things, but they truly were.

It hadn't been long enough for them to learn anything of value.

"Anyone close by?" Eiji asked her, quickly pulling her from her thoughts.

"Yes, there's another team about a hundred meters to the west." She answered as she reached out with her senses and pinpointed another team.

"Sensor-nin are so weird." Daichi muttered.

She rolled her eyes as they changed directions. She felt something nagging at her in the back of her mind. There was something she was forgetting, but couldn't remember. She scratched the back of her head before sighing, she would remember it when it deemed itself necessary.

"Yuzu-chan, is everything all right?" Eiji asked.

"Yeah, just something on my mind," She quietly admitted, "That Kusa-nin from earlier rubbed me the wrong way."

"Yeah, she was off," He agreed as they landed above another team.

It was a quick check and a nod. There was an earth scroll, they needed the element of surprise. Daichi made the sign for genjutsu and Yuzuki gave a curt nod as Eiji shook his head. With a few quick hand signs, a genjutsu blanketed the three boys below. It didn't take long for the screams to start and her two teammates paled. They hadn't been expecting the screams and looked to see a calm girl controlling the genjutsu.

"You need to hurry," She hissed at them, "It won't take them long to break out of the genjutsu."

Daichi moved first and hit one of the boys in the back of the neck. He went down and he rushed to take care of the second one while Eiji took care of the last. Yuzuki narrowed her eyes, it was too easy. Anko said that this test would cut the teams in half, but they were going to reach the tower before noon.

"Somethings definitely not right," she muttered.

"You can drop the genjutsu!" Daichi called up to her.

She nodded and stopped the flow of chakra. The genjutsu dispelled and she let out a soft sigh. She gave a strained smile as Eiji held up the earth scroll before putting it with their heaven scroll. They shared a look and began to sprint to the tower. It took them less time to reach the tower and hit the cold, stone floor than they thought it would. They had to have been in that forest for a good two hours, maybe less.

"How the hell did we finish this so fast?" Eiji questioned as they tried to catch their breaths, bent over with their hands on their knees.

"Plot convenience," Daichi said with a blank look.

"What?" Eiji and Yuzuki questioned.

"I'm messing with you," Daichi said as he gave a sheepish cough, "Right, let's solve this riddle."

_If qualities of heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If earthly abilities are what you lack, train your body in the fields, and prepare to attack. When both heaven and earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This is the secret way that guides us from this place today. _-The Sandaime.

"So, we open them," Yuzuki said as she stared at the two boys, "We need to open the scrolls now."

They did and quickly dropped the scrolls upon seeing what was written on them. Two people appeared, Genma and an unknown woman. Genma gave Yuzuki a lazy grin and she glared at him. She wasn't in the mood for his games. There was something bothering her, and his grin fell upon noticing her expression.

"Something eating at you, kiddo?" He asked her as they went to talk a few feet away from Daichi and Eiji so they wouldn't hear something they shouldn't.

"I met a Yakushi Kabuto and a Kusa-nin," She quietly informed him, "Something was off about both of them."

"I'll trust your gut judgement on this," He muttered, as he made a mental note to keep an eye out on the two she mentioned, "I need you to finish your match as fast as possible, your team already broke a record by getting here within two hours. I'll make sure to treat you to some dango after."

"I tracked down nearby teams and used the byakugan to search for the scroll we needed," She sheepishly admitted, crossing her arms across her chest, "Then ensnared them in the hell viewing technique."

"That's my kid," He couldn't help but feel some pride, "I'm going to be watching the next exam, you'll do me proud."

No one could even make him embarrassed by quoting that at him. He really was proud of his kid, his kid with an adult mind and soul but he digressed. She was flying through the exams on strategy alone. Ibiki had told Hayate that he might try and swipe the kid away from his tutelage and have her train to be one of his best interrogators and torturers. That had been a bit disturbing to think about, but he knew that she would figure out a schedule to make sure she was able to train with him and Hayate. Knowing her, she might hunt down Tsunade just to ask for her secrets on her chakra enhanced strength.

He didn't know why she tried to get as much training as she could.

"Why do you want to learn chakra enhanced strength?" He asked her and she seemed surprised at the question from out of the blue.

"I'm a long-range fighter with a solid foundation in kenjutsu," She stated, "Having more under my belt, like iryo-jutsu and the enhanced strength paired with juken might help to strengthen that."

"You'd be a really weird medical-nin," He said.

"Yeah, but think of how it could be used in interrogation," She said with wide eyes.

He didn't even want to think about it. An interrogator with medical knowledge under their belt was a terrifying image. They could bring pain about just by using the victim's body against them. Not taking? Just set their nerves on fire. She was going to get extremely creative and Anko was going to love learning her ideas. His kid was going to be twisted when she got through her internship under the purple-haired kunoichi.

"Go and get something to eat," He ordered as he ruffled her hair, "You guys earned the rest."

Yuzuki smiled and slowly followed her temporary teammates into the depths of the tower. They were given some lunch by a surprised chuunin and quietly ate together. They were all thoughtful as they bit into the onigiri that was part of their meal. The two boys were wondering why the only female in the room seemed distracted.

"Are you sure nothings wrong?" Eiji asked her.

"Oh, yeah, everything is all right I'm just wondering what the final part of this test will be," She answered as she finished off her onigiri.

"Final part?" Daichi asked.

"Halve the teams," She pointed out, "That's what this part of the test was designed to do, but there will still be too many people participating in the tests."

"They don't want a lot of people participating?" Eiji asked.

"Yes," She answered with a nod, "Whatever the last test is, they don't want too many people, it would drag on too long."

The two boys shared a look and mentally conversed. Yuzuki watched with an unreadable expression, save for the sad glint in her eyes. It had been a long time since she had been able to communicate with someone like that. She wasn't on the same wavelength as the people around her. She supposed that if she wanted to have someone like that then she would have to try and be good friends with Shikamaru. If anything, she'd be intellectually stimulated.

"Would you be upset with us if we chose to drop out?" Daichi asked and at her surprised expression he elaborated, "We would like to advance with our teammate, and we won't leave you behind if you still need teammates for the last part of this test."

"It's all right, I understand," She told them giving a tiny smile of understanding.

"Thanks, Yuzu-chan," Eiji grinned.

She sighed at that and quickly finished her food. She stood up and gave them a small wave. She was going to head to the rooms that were available for the chuunin exams. She claimed a bunk near the window and sat down. Eiji would want to explore and Daichi would be dragged along.

It had been a while since she had truly been alone. As much as she loved Genma and Hayate she missed the quiet. It allowed her time to refocus her thoughts and think about her next steps. She couldn't help but think back to what Genma had said.

Super strength huh? She had made that comment as a joke and he thought she was being serious. Now that she thought about it, it would truly be a perfect foil for her abilities. She hadn't put much stock into iryo-jutsu, she was under the impression that she hadn't had the patience to learn it. She could see that she was patient enough now, twelve years of a new life and six of them spent at the academy was enough proof for that.

Maybe she would hunt down the slug-hime and ask her to train her. Who better to learn from than the best in the field? She paused as that final thought hit her and began to wonder when she became such a sociopath. The life of a shinobi changed people, it showed the darkest parts of the human psyche and bared them to the world.

No wonder Kakashi was as fucked up mentally as he was. She had to wonder what he had gone through to have receded so far into his mind. He had walls up that were so firmly in place that she felt the need for a mental hand grenade to try and get through to him. There were moments, especially now that he was getting some form of help, where he was kind and genuine with her and she lived for them. She made a face.

Great she was the strange kid with a crush on a man ten years older than her, lovely. She scratched the back of her head in annoyance. It made sense, mentally she was closer to him in age than she was physically. It wasn't his fault that puberty was starting to drive her crazy. She almost felt like cracking a joke at Genma saying that she was going to marry the silver haired man, or even Hayate, but she'd rather not kill her father figure due to a stroke. She'd also like to not have Genma kill the jonin, but she digressed.

Anko would find it funny, until she wondered if she was being serious. She brought out her tachi and began to sharpen it with a whetstone as she tried to figure out if they were genuine feelings, or a simple crush. She was leaning towards the latter and was going to make sure they didn't turn into the former. People were judgmental at best, violent at worst. A ten-year age gap, something her former grandparents had, could be considered scandalous especially since he knew her as she is now. People would assume that he had groomed her, and she wouldn't stand to tarnish his reputation like that.

"Ah, shit," She muttered, the former was beginning to happen.

She quickly clamped down on those feelings and tried to ignore them. She wasn't going to be like Sakura and lose her head over a boy, she needed to be analytical and sharp. She wouldn't allow such emotions to cloud her judgment. She wasn't going to let him be a weakness, and she wasn't going to let such feelings grow. She didn't need someone, and she needed to remind herself of that fact.

It didn't stop her from being so lonely.

"_The trouble is not really in being alone, it's being lonely. One can be lonely in the midst of a crowd, don't you think?"_ Christine Feehan,_ Dark Prince. _A quote she had never paid much attention to, she had her older brother and niece back when she first heard it. It didn't make much sense to her, but now it did. Even surrounded by people, one could still feel lonely. She still felt it, even with Hayate being in a situation that was like her's. He grew up with the people in this world and had been able to form connections with them before he was brought back. She had been reborn in the world with all her memories and that mentally put her above the other children and made it nearly impossible to form any kind of connection.

The children had avoided her like the plague, her cold disposition being one of the main reasons. She thought back to all the photos of her with her parent's, no one was smiling in them. She stopped sharpening the blade of her tachi and looked at her reflection in it. Yuna was probably the only person who knew what secrets their family hid. Not even Inoichi knew about them, and she realized why.

She had become such a proficient liar that seven she believed what she spouted.

She brought her knees up to her chest and looked out the window and into the forest of death. She didn't know if her cousins were doing all right, but she hoped that they were. Sadly, she hoped that it would teach them that they needed to buckle down and train harder, well, that was more for Ino than Hinata. Hinata worked so hard to try and change herself while Ino slacked. She didn't want to lose a family member that cared about her.

She tilted her head and a curtain of long hair filled her vision. She huffed in annoyance at it and tucked it behind her ear, effectively pulling her long bangs out of her right eye. She almost looked normal like that, but the jagged scar on the left side of her face was a reminder that even she had her faults and weaknesses. She felt the protruding skin with her bandaged fingers and sighed.

There wasn't much she could do about that. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch when the door opened and blinked when Temari walked in. The blonde seemed just as surprised to see the taller girl and simply narrowed her eyes. She seemed shocked when the kunai held in the other girls' hands went back into the pouch attached at her waist.

"What? This is the cool down time of this exam," Yuzuki stated, "I don't have any wish or inclination to do you harm."

"That's why people think you're the nice village," Temari informed her in a blunt tone.

"Are we? I dunno, Morino-san seemed to have scared quite a few contestants away with his test," Yuzuki said with a wry smile, "But most shinobi are not like him, even from other villages."

"How is it nothing fazes you?" Temari huffed.

"Is that the popular opinion among everyone?" Yuzuki asked in confusion, "Because you are the second person to ask that and now I'm starting to worry."

Temari couldn't help but snort at that. She wasn't supposed to be making friends with the Konoha-nin, but it was difficult with some of them. Here was a girl that didn't react to anything like she should. If someone were to be stabbed she would simply kill the attacker and try to stop the victims bleeding with something weird. If she were to be stabbed she would just giver her attacker a look.

"Your team made it through the forest pretty fast if you beat mine here," Temari commented as she took a bed close to the other girl.

"I'm a sensor-nin," Yuzuki simply shrugged, "Finding other teams was a bit of a breeze, I have more range than others expect."

"How'd you know what scroll they had?" That's the part that Temari was curious about.

She looked towards Yuzuki and watched as the girl smiled before tapping her nose. She knew automatically that the girl wasn't going to say anything as to how she did it. As annoyed as she was, she understood it. Keeping one's abilities a secret was the best way to stay alive. She couldn't help but think that this was one girl she didn't want to face, even if she knew that she was well above the rank of chuunin. She decided to change the topic and try to get closer to the girl, it was selfish of her, but she didn't care.

"How do you deal with so much hair?" Temari asked.

"I don't, I think I ignore it like ninety percent of the time and the other ten I just want to chop it off," Yuzuki replied with a sigh, "It's heavier than it looks."

Temari raised a brow at that and relaxed in the presence of the preteen. To her she seemed easy going and calm, to those who knew her well they'd know that it was all a ploy and a cleverly crafted mask. She was luring the blonde into a sense of security to try and figure out what she was planing. The suna-nins were few in number for a regular exam. There had to be some sort of…oh yes. Hayate had said he was killed during the exams and over essential information. He had never been forthcoming with it, and she understood. Things could've changed, but she doubted it.

If the wave mission was still similar then what ever information he had learned might still be valid. She closed her eyes slightly; he was trying to minimize the amount of danger she was put in until she was strong enough to be a force of nature. She would grow strong, strong enough to overcome the Sannin. She wanted to protect those she cared about. If it was a selfish desire then she would gladly accept that title.

"A-Ah, Yuzuki-Chan," Hinata's soft voice rang out.

"Hinata-chan, congrats on making it this early," Yuzuki told the girl.

She was surprised when Temari simply raised a skeptical brow and then looked between the two byakugan users. It was obvious to see the family resemblance. The pale eyes and high cheek bones were nearly identical. The eye shape and hair were more like the blonde girl with long hair from the written exam. They had to be related as well. She just wondered where she got the long lashes from, those were unlike both girls.

"We must have done the same strategy," Yuzuki chuckled, "You made it here before Neji, I'm extremely proud of you."

"Please don't be mean to Neji-nii-sama," Hinata quietly chided.

"I will when he stops being mean to you," Yuzuki huffed with a slight frown, "You haven't done anything to deserve it."

Temari was present for some juicy gossip that she wasn't expecting. She wondered if most females talked like this. She didn't really have female friends, or acquaintances. It was difficult to understand normal girls due to that.

"You have any stories about your brothers?" She was startled by the questioned posed by the taller girl.

"Kankuro is always playing with his dolls," Temari couldn't help but leak that bit of information.

"Suna does have a really good grasp on chakra strings that can't be rivaled," Yuzuki said with a slight nod, "It's really impressive."

Temari couldn't help but smirk at that. She was making it seem as though she didn't know what the strings were used for, but she did. She was amused by the girl in front of her, she was playing a game all of her own. The league she played in was on another level. She wondered who else knew she was doing so.

Her cousin didn't recognize it, but an outsider did. She made eye contact and almost shivered at coldness of them. They reminded her of Gaara's, all she was missing was the bloodlust. She thought that Konohagakure was a "nice" village, how could someone like her exist.

"A-Ano, T-Temari-san?" Hinata asked, "W-Would you join us for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sure," Temari almost shrugged but gave the dark-haired girl a smile.

She could play the game, but she knew that she wasn't going to win it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Fun fact, Yuzuki was written while listening to Puella Madoka Magica music. I think it was _Puella in Somnio, I was waiting for this moment, and flame of despair_. Each one had a different tune, but I think _flame of despair and Puella in Somino_ suit Yuzuki as a somewhat tragic character, but are accurate to her growth.**

**The chuunin exam preliminaries will be around 3 fights a chapter!**

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14

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"Is everything a riddle with your village?" Temari grumbled as the three kunoichi, who arrived to the tower early, went to stand with their teams.

The second part of the chuunin exams had been the start of a strange friendship between the three kunoichi. Temari didn't stand for Hinata's lack of self confidence and started to draw the shy girl out of her shell, and Yuzuki followed her example with ease. She wanted to see her cousin, in Ino's words, blossom. The girl had so much potential and she wanted to see it realized.

"Well, a shinobi village does have its annoyances," Yuzuki chuckled before tilting her head in thought, "Though I believe that it shouldn't be so cryptic."

They broke off with a wave and went to stand with their teammates and the others who had made it. Yuzuki ignored the looks sent her way. She gathered that some of the genin she graduated with genuinely thought she wouldn't make it. She almost smirked at the fact that she had broken a record. She wasn't going to rub it in, that was just an arrogant thing to do.

Ino stared at her cousin and blinked in confusion. Her clothes were impeccable and not a scratch could be found on her or her teammates. Just how long were they stuck in the tower for. She caught the girl's eyes and saw a small smile sent her way before the other girl looked away. Ino paused in her slight scrutiny and felt guilty. Her cousin was lonely, and she could tell due to how dull her eyes were.

Naruto stood closer to Yuzuki and her team and was glad that she had made it. She stared ahead at the Sandaime and took a quick glace at all the jonin. Hayate was standing in the area, as were Anko and Kakashi. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she took in Anko's pallor, she seemed a bit out of sorts compared to how she was when they first went into the forest.

"This is the end of the second test," Anko announced, "Congratulations on passing!"

"There's still too many people," Yuzuki muttered and Naruto wanted to ask what she meant by that.

He stopped when he noticed some of the jonin shooting them looks. Yuzuki was able to ignore them and he simply winced. She spared him a glance and her shoulders relaxed a bit. It didn't take long for them to tense up again.

The Oto-nin's sensei looked like Orochimaru. She spared a glance towards the jonin she knew and tried to get their attention. Hayate was trying to figure out why she seemed slightly panicked. When she caught his eyes she slowly motioned towards the Oto jonin. He looked at the man and tried to figure out what she was trying to get at. He looked back to her and noticed the expression on her face that meant she felt the need to hit her head against a wall.

It wasn't his fault that he wasn't a mind reader.

She couldn't use chakra at the moment and as such giving a mental message to someone was damn near impossible without being disqualified. She bought a hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. She didn't like the situation she was stuck in.

"Something seems off with your student," Kakashi said to Hayate.

"I think she has something to tell us, but can't make it obvious," Hayate muttered as he crossed his arms.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test," Anko told the genin, "So listen carefully!"

"There is something I wish to explain before the third test," The Sandaime announced, "It concerns the true reasons for these exams."

"True reasons?" Daichi quietly mumbled.

"Why do we have all the alliance countries taking the exam together?" The Sandaime asked, "To promote friendship among the countries and to raise the level of shinobi, I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning, this exam is merely a replacement for war among the allied countries."

Yuzuki's hand flinched and those that knew her seemed surprised at the first thing to faze her. Brining up war was enough to get a reaction out of her. The Uchiha almost let out an exasperated "finally" at the sight. He also felt a little confused as to why that would cause her to react, it wasn't like she had been in a war.

She had been, back in the Navy. The war on terror had still been going on and then relations with North Korea had started to fall. She had been involved in war before and knew it was one of the worst things in the world. War was never meaningless, but when innocents were brought into it she was bothered. When children, younger than her twelve-year-old form, were used it made her sick.

"If you go back in time the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule," The Sandaime continued, "In order to prevent wasteful fighting the stage that these countries chose for battle is the chuunin exams."

"Why the hell do we have to do that crap?" Naruto yelled out, "Isn't this thing for deciding who's a chuunin?"

"It is a fact that the exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a chuunin," The Sandaime informed him, "But on the other hand, this exam has another side where each country's shinobis risks their own life to protect their lands prestige."

"Prestige?" Ino quietly asked.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi," The Sandaime continued once again, "And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients, and conversely if seen as weak they will lose clients."

Yuzuki could feel the mounting tension and closed her eyes for a few seconds. It really put into perspective how many of her peers didn't realize this was what it meant to live in a militaristic state. She opened them again and shared a look with Hayate before looking back towards the Hokage. The man wasn't being forthcoming with his information, but she understood that most shinobi weren't. She was feeling annoyed at how many riddles she was being forced to solve. The Professor her ass, the man was more like the Riddler.

"This will signal to potential enemy countries that our village has this much power," The Sandaime continued, "So, it will send a political message to the outsiders."

"Yeah, but why!?" Kiba yelled out and Yuzuki sighed, "Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?"

"Are you a shinobi or not?" Yuzuki asked him, "You risk your life with each mission you go on, you signed up for it the moment you became a genin. We shinobi are the strength of the village."

Iruka looked towards the preteen and sighed. He was right, she understood their way of life far too well. He wondered when she had received the scar across her face. It was still a dark red, meaning it had finally closed and was fully healing, and stood out against her pale skin.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village," The Sandaime reiterated in a more extensive manner, "The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi, and a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle. This exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength, it only has meaning because lives' are at risk and that is why those that have come before you have fought in the chuunin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why say such nonsense about it being for friendship?" A girl with twin buns on her head questioned.

"I said it in the beginning I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this," He answered, "By losing life and establishing balance, this is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi."

A few of the genin let out sounds of disbelief and surprise. One of the main perpetrators of this sound was one Haruno Sakura. The pinkette looked towards the old leader and then towards the one girl who had said something similar. She felt anger rising in her along with a distinct need to prove herself. She felt as though she was looked down upon by the taller girl, and needed to make her see differently.

"Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing, "The Sandaime got everyone's attention, "This is not just a test, this is a life-risking battle with your country's prestige on the line."

"I get it," Naruto chuckled to himself.

"Oh, well done," Yuzuki softly told him with a tiny smile.

He gave her a blinding grin and she shook her head in slight amusement. Leave it to him not to be bothered by the idea of combat. He truly was excited to be a chuunin. He was one of the genin she hoped passed, along with herself.

"I'd like to now explain the third test but…" The Sandaime trailed off as a cough went through the area.

"I apologize for the interruption, Hokage-Sama," Hayate said as he bowed before the man, "From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me to start?"

"By all means," The Sandaime agreed with a short nod.

"Hello everyone, I am Gekko Hayate," Hayate greeted the genin and he saw some horrified looks from them at his disposition, but the smallest of smiles came from Yuzuki, "Before the third test there's something we must first do, a preliminary for the final test to decide who gets to participate in it."

"A preliminary?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminary?! What do you mean?" Shikamaru yelled.

"There's too many people for a final test," Yuzuki huffed as she put her hands into her pockets, "He'll figure it out in a few seconds."

"Sensei, I don't understand this preliminary," Sakura piped up, "Why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?"

"The first and second test may have been too easy this year, we have too many people remaining," Hayate answered with a deadpan that shut the genin up, "According to the chuunin exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test."

"Oh no," Sakura grumbled.

"As Hokage-sama indicated earlier there will be multitudes of guests at the third test, so the fights could take too long," He continued, "We are limited in time, but for now those who are not feeling well and those who feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now since we will be starting the preliminary immediately."

"What!? Right now?!" Kiba yelled.

Daichi and Eiji raised their hands and gave Yuzuki a meaningful look. Hayate made a mental note when they did a handshake as a sign of understanding. He called out their names and they left. Naruto turned towards Yuzuki and noted that she didn't seem surprised, but sympathetic.

"I'm going to quit," Kabuto announced as he raised his hand.

"Kabuto-san, why?" Naruto questioned.

"You may leave now," Hayate informed him as he coughed, there was an edge to his voice that barely betrayed how angry the silver haired teen made him, "Anyone else want to retire? For now on it will be individual battling, you may raise your hand based on your own judgement."

"Kabuto-san, why are you quitting?" Naruto questioned.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but my body is all beat up," Kabuto said, "I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear from the time when I got attacked by the oto-nins from before the first test."

"Right," Naruto softly muttered.

Yuzuki gave a quiet yawn and Temari shot the girl an annoyed look. Seriously, how could she not be fazed by anything that was happening. The girl turned around and gave her a slight wink before returning to how she had been. That caused the blonde to give a slight snort. She was either crazy or confident in her skills. It was most likely the latter.

"There are no more participants retiring, right?" Hayate questioned.

"Please quit, I'm afraid," The words that Sakura spoke floated over to Yuzuki and her expression turned sour.

Whatever was said between team seven was quiet enough that no one else heard, but the tears the pinkette were crying was enough to tell everyone that the Uchiha said something that hurt her feelings. Naruto looked at her with a slight frown as he tried to figure out why she acted like she did.

"I don't understand girls," Naruto muttered.

"Now let's begin the preliminary," Hayate announced, "This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting, you will basically fight as if in a real-life confrontation. Since we now have exactly 21 entrants we will conduct ten matches with a tie breaker between the final entrant…the winners will advance to the third test."

"Finally," Yuzuki huffed.

"There are no rules, the fight continues until one of you dies, is knocked out, or admits defeat," Hayate continued, "If you don't want to die than quickly acknowledge your defeat but when I decide that the winner has clearly been established the fighting stops, we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses. The object that controls your destiny is this electric score board that will show the match-ups for each battle, let's announce the first fight."

All eyes turned towards the screen and watched as yellow letters of everyone's names cycled through. It eventually landed on Uchiha Sasuke against Akado Yoroi. Everyone except the two participants went onto the upper levels to watch the fights pan out. They were joined by the jonin sensei's and the atmosphere was completely tense. Yuzuki took up a spot against the wall next to Kakashi.

"Now what was it that you were trying to tell Hayate?" He murmured.

"The oto-nin's sensei looks like Orochimaru," She huffed, "I might be mistaken though, I don't know his chakra signature to be certain."

"Still, you took the initiative," A man in a green spandex suit informed her and she realized that she had been heard by him, "Don't worry, we'll make sure to keep an eye on him."

She got a blinding grin and blinked in complete confusion. She looked towards Kakashi and noted that the man wasn't going to be much help. She gave a slow nod and went to take a spot next to Ino and her team. She felt a bit better after informing a superior that could possibly do more in this situation. She couldn't help but wonder how an S-Class criminal had been able to enter the village in the first place.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate questioned the two boys.

"Yes," They both confirmed.

Hayate gave a curt nod and moved away. He knew how this fight would go, the Uchiha boy would pull a victory over Yoroi. He looked towards his student and noticed the uncomfortable manner she was standing. She was stuck next to the fangirl Yamanaka, but every so often she would look at the Oto-sensei. She was sharper than even he gave her credit for. She looked down at him and he gave her a look. She blinked and nodded her understanding.

She didn't look at the oto-sensei anymore.

"I know Sasuke-kun can do it," Ino cheered.

"Something seems off, just what happened in the forest?" Yuzuki questioned and team ten looked at her with wide eyes, "What?"

"Just when did you get to the tower?" Choji questioned her.

"In under two hours," She answered.

"What day?" Ino pressed for answers her hands on the other girls' shoulders.

"Oh, the first."

Team ten collectively hoped that they wouldn't have to face against her. She wasn't even boasting about being the first to the tower, she just stated it like a fact. Ino looked behind her head and noticed the jealous glare sent her way by Sakura. She couldn't help but worry about her cousin, even she knew about the temper the pinkette had. If Yuzuki had been like everyone else in the academy and pursued Sasuke, that jealousy would have already been hatred.

"She hates me, you know," Ino heard her cousin quietly say, "She thinks that everything I can do was handed to me simply because I'm the product of two clans, it's petty and childish and I will have no part in it."

"I don't think you have a choice," Ino chuckled, "But team seven was attacked by a strong nin and was hurt pretty bad, that's why Sakura's hair is so short."

"Huh, I hadn't even noticed," Yuzuki muttered she then looked towards the shorter blonde, "Y'know if you ever cut your hair short, I'd do the same right?"

"Why?" Ino questioned, "It's so pretty long."

"Because you love your hair and it's important to you," Was the answer.

Ino stared at her for a few seconds before a touched smile appeared on her face. There was a companionable silence between the two as they turned their attention to the two boys who were just standing there, not moving. They were sizing each other up, to see who would act first.

Yoroi attacked first and tossed shuriken at Sasuke. They were returned to him, but the Uchiha flinched in pain. With a quick activation of the byakugan pale eyes widened. Something was on his shoulder and siphoning his chakra. Just what the hell happened in the forest of death? He hit the ground and she clenched at the railing. It bent under her grasp.

"Woah, go easy on the railing," Ino teased, "He'll be fine."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Yuzuki stated, "There's something siphoning his chakra."

She didn't mention his shoulder, which was the main focus, but she noticed that there was another point where it was leaving him. She studied his chakra's movements and watched as it went back to Yoroi. She deactivated the byakugan and relaxed her hold on the metal in her hands. There was an indent where they had been. There wasn't much to worry about, if he ran out of chakra then Hayate would end the match.

"Huh, how?" Ino questioned.

"Yoroi has a kind of jutsu that allows him to absorb chakra," She answered with a slight shrug, "I've never heard of one that worked like this."

"What'd you say, Yuzuki-chan?" Naruto questioned.

All eyes on the fight were wide as her proclamation of chakra siphoning started to show evidence. Sasuke was on the ground with Yoroi holding onto his forehead with a single hand. He was struggling against the hold, but was losing his strength. He seemed to realize what those spectating had; his chakra was being stolen.

"Hey, Senpai," Yuzuki called towards Kakashi and got a hum in response, "Have you ever seen this type of jutsu before?"

"No, it's new to me as well," Kakashi quietly answered.

"Why do you call him senpai?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Because it pisses Genma off," She chuckled.

Quite a few of the jonin in the area had been subjected to Genma's special brand of blackmail and gave the girl a quiet blessing to continue the good work. Anyone that messed with him was okay in their books. A scream came from the boy on the ground and everyone watched with a frown on their faces. Even when he freed himself with a well-aimed kick.

No one wanted to be subjected to that kind of jutsu.

"Are you really Uchiha Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled out, "Is that the best you can do?!"

Sasuke looked up towards the blonde with wide eyes. Hayate narrowed his eyes slightly at Yoroi as the man charged up his attack and sprinted towards the preteen. He received a kick to the jaw, his momentum making the attack worse. A boy with a bowl cut tensed and let out a surprised sound. It was his turn to grip the railing hard enough to dent it.

"That's Lees…" Naruto said before trailing off.

Sasuke seemed to pause in the air as marks began to cover his skin. Yuzuki let out a sound of surprise, she had no clue what the hell was on him. Fuinjutsu was her weakest subject, which she made a mental note to fix since she knew Genma of all people, and she didn't have the knowledge to recognize the marks. He flinched before the marks receded and finished the move by kicking the man to the floor multiple times.

"Impressive bit of taijutsu there," Yuzuki couldn't help but comment on that.

He didn't immediately get up and she wondered if that was the best he could do. The Uchiha was slightly disappointing if it was, but she understood. He was going up against a man who had a few years on him and a strange jutsu. Hayate checked on Yoroi and let out a slightly relieved sigh, the man was still alive. He had to play the part of unassuming proctor; he didn't trust any of the men who had been with Kabuto. Sasuke slowly stood up to his feet, his legs shaking.

"I'm stopping the fight here and that makes the winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate announced.

Naruto let out a loud whoop as the dark-haired boy went back down. He hit Kakashi's leg and looked up at the man in surprise. Kakashi took the boy out of the arena as the medical team rushed in. The rest of the genin looked up towards the screen to see who was next. Zaku Abumi was against Aburame Shino.

"This is over before it started," Yuzuki stated and Shikamaru gave a slow nod in agreement.

The Aburame clan specialized with bugs. Their bodies were hives for the insects that fed on their chakra. To look at one of the members with the byakugan was terrifying, especially if it wasn't expected. Yuzuki had heard of them, but had been taken aback by the sight. She couldn't help but liken it to ticks on an animal.

"We will now begin the second match," Hayate said as the two teens face each other, "Please begin."

"I hope Shino-Kun will be all right," Hinata softly said as she moved closer to the railing, effectively standing next to her cousin.

"His opponent is weakened," Yuzuki quietly said, "Plus, the Aburame is perfectly matched."

Hinata seemed surprised that she had such kind things to say, but realized she was talking on a strategic level. Yes, on paper Shino was more likely to be the victor of the match since Zaku was injured. It was a grave mistake to underestimate one's opponent, but she didn't know if that was what she was doing.

"Look at the chakra paths in his arms," Yuzuki told her, "You'll see what I mean."

Hinata was still at the level where she needed hand signs for the byakugan, so it wasn't as discreet. Still, she looked at the chakra paths in Zaku's arms. They wrapped around a long metal tube that went from his forearms to his palms. Just what the hell did he do to himself. She brought a hand up to her mouth in slight horror.

"N-No wonder you seem so confident," Hinata said.

It made sense; it really did. A few bugs inside those tubes and he was done for, his shinobi career would be over. A small hand pushed a long strand of hair back and a huff was heard. Her hitai-ate didn't do diddly squat to keep her hair out of her eyes. She removed it and quickly tied it under her hair to try and stop it from getting in her eyes.

"One arm is enough against you!" Zaku yelled at Shino.

He charged and went to hit Shino, but his arm was blocked. He yelled and a sudden cloud filled the arena and out of it they all saw Shino on the floor, but he got up to his feet. His cheek was scratched but instead of just blood there was also bugs falling from the open skin. It was a creepy sight, but also incredibly interesting.

"That's so creepy," Ino and Sakura muttered at the same time.

"Those are destruction bugs," Yuzuki huffed, "It's cool."

"You tomboy," Ino informed the taller girl.

She got an amused grin in response. She couldn't help but be in a good mood. So far two of the ten rookies had passed and had done so in a way that was still hiding their top tricks. Shino wasn't even using the bugs to the fullest yet, he was creative in a way that she lacked. She was good at finding creative ways to use traps along with her genjutsu, but he was able to use his family ninjutsu in a way that she couldn't possibly understand and attempt.

"Don't mess with me!" Zaku yelled and everyone wondered what had been said, "You should always have a trump card right?! Here!"

"So, he can use his right arm too?!" Kiba yelled out.

Whatever jutsu he was about to perform backfired and his right arm fell off. Yuzuki hadn't been expecting that and her brows raised as a few of the genin around her murmured in shock. Even one of the jonin seemed surprised by what had happened. It wasn't every day someone blew their arm off.

Shino finished him off with a punch to the face. He didn't move, but he did groan. Hayate knelt and checked to see if he was still alive before looking towards the arm. There was no hope to reattach it, Zaku's days as a shinobi were over. He stood back up and nodded slightly.

"This match is over, the winner is Aburame Shino," He announced.

Shino gave a very curt bow and headed back to the other genin. He went to stand next to his team to wait through their fights. He was surprised at the nod sent his way by the tallest of the rookies. They had never interacted before, but there was a respect on her end that he hadn't noticed before. It was nice having a girl, who wasn't his teammate, not be afraid of him.

"Welcome back, senpai," Yuzuki quietly said as Kakashi appeared once again, apparently finished with what he had to do.

"I think we should go on to the next match," Hayate announced.

Tsurugi Misumi against Kankuro. A puppet master against someone who's moves she didn't know. Yuzuki wasn't going to discount either, that would be a mistake. She felt that Kankuro had more of a chance to win than Misumi, something about her fellow Konoha-nin rubbed her the wrong way. A slight chill went down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Yes, there was something very wrong with him.

"We will now begin the third match," Hayate told the two.

Kankuro had pulled off the wrapped bundle from his back and Misumi sprinted forward. Within seconds, Yuzuki knew exactly why the man disturbed her, his body seemed to turn into rubber and wrapped around the Suna-nin. He kept squeezing and telling him to give up. He squeezed until a loud crack filled the area.

Hayate hated the sound, but didn't react like he did the first time. He knew that the boy was fine, a puppet master at their finest. He looked up towards the genin and noticed that Yuzuki had a blank look on her face, but her eyes were far away. His student wasn't taking the imagery of a neck snapping well, he felt the urge to go and comfort her, but he had to remain in the arena and not show any favoritism.

Instead Kakashi was the one to bring her out of it with a slight tap to the shoulder. She sent him a slight nod and he back up and returned to his spot next to his students. He sighed and decided to call the match, seeing as the other nin had given up.

"The battle cannot be continued, the winner is Kankuro!" He announced.

Yuzuki ran a hand through her hair in thought. She could strategize different attacks for who ever she would have to fight against, she was hoping it was Sakura since she was annoyed at the pinkette and she had been given the green light by Genma, but such strategy would have to be revised for the final fight. The suna-nin's were insane with their skill level compared to the rookie ten, they should've been chuunin before now.

Just what were they planning.


	15. Chapter 15

**Yeah, the fights during the chuunin exams are a bit boring, but there will be changes. The only one that won't change is Hinata VS Neji since that's an especially important fight. I also updated the cover art and I really like it, it's simple and conveys the emotion I was going for. **

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15

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"We will now begin the fourth match!" Hayate announced.

Ino tensed up at the names on the screen. It was like she was being mocked by them, and she hated it. Yuzuki gave her an understanding look before gazing back at the yellow letters. Haruno Sakura against Yamanaka Ino, two ex-friends fighting against one another. She didn't know if the blonde could fight against her. There was too much history between them, too much emotion.

"I believe in you."

Ino looked towards her cousin and saw the small smile being sent her way. She could easily say that she was privy to the inner workings of her mind, though she didn't know everything, but she knew that those smiles were genuine smiles. She had such understanding and sympathy in her eyes and smile that it hurt. She blinked and gave her cousin a smile back. It was nice to see that before she went down to fight.

"Right, I have to get back at her for those glares she's been sending you," Ino grinned.

"Please don't," Yuzuki huffed as she shook her head in disbelief, "Win because you can, you are the better kunoichi."

That was true, especially on paper. Sakura spent more time fantasizing over Sasuke then training and when she did train it was half assed, she never truly pushed herself. Ino gave a nod before heading down to the arena. Sakura slowly joined her and Hayate looked over both girls. He remembered that the match had ended in a draw, but he wondered if it could change. There was a fire in the blonde's eyes that wasn't there before.

"I never thought I'd be fighting you, Sakura," Ino stated.

Sakura untied her hitai-ate off from behind her head and tied it around her forehead. Ino did the same, that meant that they were taking each other seriously. She wanted to fight for her cousin, for the girl who believed that she could win without any fault. She had never paid attention to her, never reached out to her to try and make a connection, but that was going to change. She looked towards the man who was proctor and gave him a meaningful look, he seemed a bit confused before understanding.

"Those two fighting against each other is annoying," Shikamaru sighed as he rested against the railing.

"Is Ino gonna be alright?" Choji questioned.

"I think so," Yuzuki stated, much to their surprise and they looked at her with raised brows, "But then again I might be biased, the mission I went on with team seven left much to be desired of Sakura's attitude."

"How bad was she?" Shikamaru asked.

"I can't say anything about the mission," She huffed, "But the Sasuke-kun's do grate on the nerves."

"Be nice," Kakashi chided as he lightly bopped her head with a fist, "That is my student."

"I was just saying she needs a dose of reality," She muttered as she rubbed at the top of her head, frowning the entire time.

"Right now, I have no intention of fighting over Sasuke-kun with you," Sakura announced.

Kakashi watched as the reborn woman turned to look at him before motioning at his student with her hands, her expression one of _I told you so_. He hadn't been expecting the divine intervention to vindicate the woman's words. He felt the need to pinch the bridge of his nose. Leave it to her to have someone, or something, on her side when it comes to his student.

"If you two fight, you won't be gentle," Shikamaru commented, "There'd be no holding back on your end."

"Who'd win in that match?" Choji asked.

"Yuzuki," Shikamaru answered before yawning, "She'd hold back against Ino to make it a fair fight."

Kakashi wondered about that, he looked at the expression on her face and realized the boy was right. Family was important to her, and she'd fight to protect it. It was sweet on her end and he saw the stink eye she was giving him. She had a feeling that was what he was thinking. He looked away so he didn't have to see that expression.

"You have no chance with him," Sakura smirked and placed a hand on her chest, "I'm much stronger than you so I don't even need to be concerned."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Ino ground out, her fists clenching in anger, "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Sakura is going too far," Naruto gulped from his spot, "Ino has really scary eyes."

Kakashi was about to say that the pinkette wasn't the type of person to brag about her skills, but she had changed since the mission from wave. She seemed to harbor deep resentment towards those that came from clans, except for her Sasuke-kun, and was looking for a way to show that she was stronger than them. He looked towards the reason behind that and noticed that she was half awake and only paying attention to Ino.

Sakura moved first and Ino narrowed her eyes, the pinkette was trying to use shadow clones to distract her. She jumped back and tossed kunai towards the other girl. For once, she wasn't letting memories and emotions cloud her judgement. Green eyes widened, and the girl jumped back to avoid the throwing knifes. The blonde almost let a smirk appear on her face, but kept her focus. She wanted to make the belief that Yuzuki had in her have meaning.

"You actually seem to be trying, Ino-pig," Sakura mocked.

Ino ground her teeth together and pushed off from her spot in a sprint. She brought her fist back and slammed it into the pinkette's face. Sakura looked like she hadn't expected that, it was like she wasn't expecting her ex-friend to take her seriously. She hit the ground and looked up at the panting blonde. Her expression one of complete shock.

"Sakura is getting beaten down there!" Naruto exclaimed as he gripped the railing in both of his hands.

"She's not holding back," Shikamaru commented before looking at Yuzuki with a strange expression, "Just what did you say to her?"

"I believe in her," Yuzuki replied a slight smile on her face, "Sometimes, that's all someone needs to do their best."

She knew that better than anyone. She couldn't help but think back to Genma and Hayate, who believed that she could win and be promoted. She wanted to prove them right, and she understood why Ino was fighting to her fullest. A boy with a bowl cut decided to move where he stood and took a spot next to her.

"They are both fighting to their fullest," He commented, and she nodded in agreement.

Ino quickly ducked a punch sent her way and returned it with a kick. Sakura went down once again, but got up with her arms trembling. It was admirable that she was trying so hard. A kick sent towards her head made her head snap back as blood began to trail down from her mouth. She had bit the inside of her cheek.

It was different, and Hayate was glad for that. He didn't want to stand through a ten-minute fight where it ended in a draw. He looked towards the blonde kunoichi as she refused to relent in her attack and punched the other girl in the stomach. Just what the hell did Yuzuki say to her before she came down to fight?

"I've never seen Ino act like this," Choji commented, "She might win."

"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded his agreement.

"I never doubted her for a minute," Yuzuki huffed before changing to a teasing tone, "You guys should believe in her more."

"Lay off, Yuzuki," Shikamaru grumbled as he shot her a look.

"When did you get this much strength?" Sakura grounded out as she wiped at the blood rolling down her chin, "There should be no way that you would be stronger!"

"I have someone that believes in me no matter what," Ino answered truthfully, "And you've always been mean to her."

"Ah," Sakura rolled her eyes, and something was uttered from her that made the blondes eyes widen.

Everyone looked at the pinkette in surprise and turned towards a frozen Yuzuki. Kakashi watched as the railing under her hands broke from the pressure she had put on it, he was about to move her out of the area to cool down when Ino finished the pinkette off with a chakra laced punch. She did pay attention to her cousin when she trained, and picked one or two things up about chakra control.

Sakura went flying and hit the wall. She fell and it revealed a small crater surrounded by cracks. She was out cold and Hayate knelt near her to check her vitals. As angry as he was with the specific name she called his student, he had a job to do.

"Haruno Sakura is no longer able to battle, Yamanaka Ino is the winner," He announced and Ino's shoulder slumped in relief and slight grief.

"She's no monster…" Ino softly stated, "She's not emotionless either, don't ever say anything like that about her again."

"An emotionless monster?" The boy with the bowl cut questioned, "Who was she referring to?"

"The girl you're standing next to," Naruto quietly replied, "Yuzuki-chan and Sakura don't see eye to eye, but to call her a monster…"

It was rare to hear him be so quiet. He hadn't cheered for his female teammate, and her words had angered him to his core. Ino hurried back to the viewers area and grabbed onto her cousins left arm. Hinata stood there for a few seconds before grabbing onto the dirty blonde's other arm. Together they both dragged her to the bathroom.

"Wait, I wanted to watch the next match," Yuzuki softly tried to argue against being dragged away.

When they entered the bathroom, she tensed when arms were put around her shoulders and she was brought into an embrace. Hinata watched as her eyes went wide with panic and wondered when was the last time she had been hugged? She joined in and it felt like hugging a statue.

"You don't have to keep it in all the time." Ino informed their cousin.

It seemed to break something down in her and something wet hit her bare shoulders. She looked at the other's girls face and noticed tears slowly rolling down her face as she finally allowed twelve years of grief and even more years of loneliness to take effect. Her arms shook as she returned the hug and clenched at the purple fabric that made up Ino's uniform. Her sobs were silent, but the obvious shaking of her shoulders was enough for them to tighten their hold on her.

"We should head back, the next match might be starting, and I don't want anyone to miss it or get disqualified," Yuzuki muttered, her voice slightly nasally.

"R-Right," Hinata agreed.

"You go on ahead, I need just a few more seconds with her," Ino told her with a smile.

Hinata hesitated at the door before nodding and heading out. Ino looked towards Yuzuki who was giving her a questioning look, it was the most emotion that she had seen on her face before. She dug around her kunai pouch for something and brought out a deep blue ribbon.

"I know you hate your hair, and I'll happily cut it after you reach chuunin," Ino told her, "But just let me have one chance to mess with it."

She removed the girls hitai-ate and quickly gathered the long strands into her hand. With quick movements she braided the hair and tied it using the ribbon. The forehead protector was tied around her neck, and they left the bathroom together. They returned just as a match was called. Nara Shikamaru against Kin Tsuchi.

"Did we miss the last match?" Ino asked Choji.

"Yeah, a girl named TenTen went against the Suna Kunoichi and was decimated," Choji answered before noticing that the taller girls' eyes were rimmed red, "Oh, you okay, Yuzuki?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Choji," Said girl gave a small nod.

Sakura was back with the spectators and, though she stood next to Naruto, was being made into a pariah. If the look on her face was anything to go by, she was sour about losing and she had been laid into by Kakashi. The silver-haired jonin had made sure that she knew that her behavior was unacceptable. Yuzuki gathered it only happened because the other jonin sensei, Hayate, and Anko were around.

Honestly, she was glad that no one forced her to apologize to her. She wouldn't have taken it well. Her emotions were all over the place at the moment and she needed to focus on gaining control of them. She barely reacted as the pinkette moved to use the restroom.

"I'm sorry about what Sakura called you," Naruto said.

"Don't be, you have no control of her actions," Yuzuki quietly told him.

"Yeah, but she made you cry," He pointed out and he watched as she blanched at that.

"Don't go around advertising that!" She almost yelled at him.

Kakashi let out a barely audible chuckle at the sight. Leave it to Naruto to be the one to cheer her up, he really was full of surprises. He watched as the adult reborn child let out a sigh and sent the sunny blonde a thankful look. It was like she wanted someone to treat her like normal, and not like glass. Most were going to do the latter due to the red eyes and flushed cheeks with tear stains.

"Let's go Shikamaru!" Ino cheered for her teammate.

"He's got this, he always won when we played shogi together, his strategy is insane," Yuzuki said, "If anything it should end in less than ten minutes."

"I know better than to take that bet," Ino chuckled.

Yuzuki gave a tiny smile at that and watched as Shikamaru controlled the fight. He had figured out her attack. She watched as a small sliver of his shadow slithered across the floor and towards her. She tugged on the end of her braid in thought as a slight smirk appeared on her face. He won in the laziest way possible, by making her slam her head against the wall.

"The winner of this match is Nara Shikamaru," Hayate announced, there was slight amusement on his face.

"Way to go Shikamaru!" Ino cheered out in glee.

"You rule!" Choji yelled out.

"You won in the laziest way possible," Yuzuki informed the teen as he rejoined them, "But I wasn't expecting anything else, well done."

"May I have a moment," A woman with long dark hair said to her and she blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uh, sure," Yuzuki nodded.

Hinata gave the smallest of smiles as the taller teen was led away by her sensei. She had asked the older woman to say something to her. She knew that she was surrounded by men all day, though one was a mother hen, she didn't have a woman to lean on. She didn't have someone to help with feminine training. To help with her emotions when she needed it. She didn't have the person who could answer questions that dealt with what was coming up for all the female genin.

"Are you sure your all right?" The jonin asked Yuzuki in a soft voice.

"Yes, I think I'll be fine," Yuzuki softly said, "I jut wasn't expecting her to come out and say such things."

"Have you ever been hated before or put down in such a way?"

"She's misled, she started to realize her own shortcomings and is trying to push that anger onto someone else, but to refer to me as an _emotionless monster _is a bit much."

"You have some excellent control over your emotions, more than some jonin I know, it unnerves those younger than you."

"I know."

Yuhi Kurenai looked down at the girl in front of her and noted the way that she held herself was closed off. She was hunched over in a way to deflect the emotions sent towards her. It was a far cry from the confident young lady who had stood before the Hokage. So much damage had been done because one jealous little girl spoke before she thought.

"You aren't fazed by much, are you?" She asked.

"Oh no, not you guys too," Yuzuki quietly said and her posture returned to normal, "Why does everyone ask me that?"

Kurenai let a smile slip on her face and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. That got her attention and she stood up straighter. She was curious, that was easy for her to see. It was nice to see. It was such a human emotion, and something that was welcomed.

"Stay here and try to gather your emotions," She quietly ordered, "You'll need to be at your best for your fight."

"Thank you, Sensei," Yuzuki bowed and the jonin left.

Yuzuki took a seat on the floor and leaned against the wall her head tilted up so she could watched the ceiling. She was left to her own devices, but she welcomed the solitude to gather her thoughts. She brought her tachi to her hands and gently twirled it in between her hands in thought. It was a lightweight sword, made from a metal that would be able to channel her chakra. She went into lotus position and placed it on her lap as she tried to center herself and gather her wits. The actions calmed the mind and her chakra. It allowed her to wrestle back some semblance of control over her emotions.

"I'm sorry," A single apology rang out and she felt her eyebrow twitch.

"I could be the better person and accept that, but your attitude won't change," She commented as she opened her eyes, and decided to be rough with the girl in front her, she needed to get a message across, "Even with whatever epiphany you came to in the forest of death, you didn't change."

"Who are you-''

"I'm someone who trains hard each and every day to have the strength to protect those I care about!" Yuzuki shouted at the pinkette and the girl backed up as though she had been struck, her eyes wide as the other girl stood up, "Whereas you became a kunoichi to be with someone who couldn't care less about you, what, do you think that chasing after him will get him to like you? Do you think that being a ninja is some kind of game?"

"How dare you!" Sakura yelled back.

"No, how dare you," Yuzuki's voice went soft and the girl backed up even further, "This line of work took my parents from me, to see you treat it as some kind of game is insulting! Either clean up your act or stop being a ninja, that is your ultimatum because if you don't_ you_ will get your teammates killed."

Sakura's eyes were wide, and tears began to gather in them, but Yuzuki didn't feel any sympathy towards her. Too many times had she seen people like Sakura go home in a body bag, too many times did she see their squad members go the same way. Her pale eyes were hard, and Sakura felt that she was right in her assumption.

"You proved me right, you just aren't emotionless, you're heartless," She muttered.

"You are so lucky that the rules prohibit fighting without it being an actual match," Yuzuki informed her, "As it is, you need to walk away."

"Or what?" She pushed.

Yuzuki brought her hand up and gently slapped it against the wall, palm down. The wall cracked from such a soft hit and that brought the pinkette to her knees as she stared at it. Yuzuki stood there with an unreadable expression on her face.

"You are out of your league," Yuzuki informed her, "And you always will be."

She turned and left the girl to her thoughts. Guilt began to rise as she wondered if she should've been that harsh with the pinkette. She walked through the door and looked to see Naruto standing there. She looked down towards the left and he let out a grumble.

"That was pretty harsh, Yuzuki-chan," He grumbled at her.

"People don't give you enough credit sometimes," She quietly told him, "You were able to figure out why I said what I did without asking."

"I'm sorry about your parents," He quietly said.

"Don't be, they…they weren't the best," She admitted without meaning to.

He blinked at that as she went to see who was fighting. Her eyes widened at the sight of Neji fighting against Hinata. Her mouth hung open slightly before she grasped onto the railing next to the boy with the bowl cut. He almost jumped in slight shock at her sudden appearance.

"This is the worst possible match up, he's going to try and kill her," Yuzuki stated and all eyes turned to her, "The Branch family has such a vendetta against the main house, did no one take that into account when putting the names into the program?"

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Someone tried to kidnap Hinata years ago, the specifics are a bit of a clan secret, but he was killed by the clan head," She replied, "When the enemy ninja asked for the clan head's body as retribution, Neji's father was sent instead…they were twins."

"No wonder he's angry at the main family," The boy with the bowl cut muttered.

"Ah, I forgot to ask who you were," Yuzuki quietly said, barely even looking at him, "I'm sorry but I can't look away from this fight, as a member of the clan I must interfere if he goes too far."

"It is all right; I am Rock Lee!" He introduced and she blinked at how loud he was, "It is nice to meet Neji's cousin!"

"Wait, does he talk about me?" She asked in surprise, "Not many people know that I'm related to him."

"You both have the same eyelashes and facial shape," He explained, "Neji respects you, but he never says why."

She listened to Neji's spew of fate and began to clench her jaw. Hinata was one of her precious people, she wasn't going to stand by as he insulted her. She reached towards the railing and two pairs of hands made sure she didn't grab it. Apparently she had broken it enough for that day. It wasn't going to stop her for long.

"Would you shut up Neji!" She shouted at him and both Hyuuga in the arena turned towards her, "Who are you to say what she can and can't do!?"

"Stop deciding things about people you idiot!" Naruto joined in, "Kick his ass Hinata!"

"Not going to lie, that probably motivated her more than me," Yuzuki stated with a frown and the blonde grinned.

Neji couldn't help but be annoyed by the two of them. He hadn't expected much from the orange wearing blonde, but he expected more from his cousin. His usually cool and calculating cousin had turned that gaze onto him and he watched as the veins around her eyes began to show and pulsate with her anger. She knew what the mission was for clan members that weren't part of the main house, they were to protect the heiress no matter what.

"So, you aren't going to forfeit," Neji said as he saw the look that Hinata was giving him, "I'm not responsible for what happens."

"I will not run away," Hinata informed him with a frown, "Let us fight, Neji-Nii-sama."

"Fine," Neji sighed.

They both slid into the juken stance and Naruto looked towards Yuzuki, who had the exact same style of fighting. He thought it was a bit strange, to fight with one's palm. He didn't even know how it worked. It looked like they slapped each other until one fell.

"Ah, the Hyuuga style," Lee stated, "It's the exact stance."

"What is the Hyuuga style?" Naruto asked.

"Konoha's strongest taijutsu style," Lee answered, "It is why I said that the strongest Konoha genin was on my team, it's Hyuuga Neji."

"I can barely keep up with them," Sakura muttered as she returned from the hallway.

Hinata and Neji looked like they were dancing more than fighting. They were both trying to shut off the other's tenketsu points, but were negating their attacks, at least on the surface. Yuzuki narrowed her eyes and noticed that he was landing hits. Hinata was barely grazing him, he was faster.

"Did she miss him?" Naruto asked.

"Barely, she simply grazed him, but a graze can be enough," Yuzuki answered.

"The taijutsu that lee and I use causes damage to the body by breaking bones, it does outer damage," A man that looked like an older version of Lee said, "The Hyuuga styles causes damage to the chakra system, and it can destroy the organs."

"It is called the gentle fist style, or rather juken," Yuzuki added onto the explanation, "It requires extreme chakra control, and neither are slackers in that division, but Neji is in the ninety-third percental while Hinata is in the ninety-two."

"Does a whole number count?" Naruto questioned.

"I've risen from the ninety-fifth to the ninety-eighth," She answered, "Yes, it counts. You can only raise your percental from training, mastery of the juken brings about mastery of chakra control."

Everyone quieted down and watched as Hinata gained the upper hand for a few minutes before Neji wrestled it back with ease. The amount of skill was apparent, much to Yuzuki's annoyance, and Hinata was losing. A hit to her chest caused blood to spill from her mouth. Her body tensed as she watched to make sure she wasn't needed to stop the fight. She looked towards Hayate and he sent her a look that clearly said _don't even try to step in_. She wondered what he was planning but knew that if she wasn't allowed to step in, then everything turned out all right.

"He's won," She unhappily grumbled.

"How can you say that?!" Naruto yelled at her.

"He's blocked her tenketsu points and has hit one of her major organs," She calmly answered and he watched as she went to grip the railing, "If she gets hit like that again, it could kill her."

Hinata hit the floor and slowly got back to her feet, trembling the entire time. She spared a glance towards Naruto before looking back down at Neji. She was ready to fight again, but a pain in her chest caused her to faulter. The genin around her began to mutter in slight worry about their fellow rookie.

"You can do it, Hinata!" Naruto cheered.

Hinata seemed to gather some courage from that and began her attack, it ended with a hit to the face. She backed up again and tried once more. Yuzuki felt her eyes widen as she took another hit to the chest. She fell forward and hit the ground. Hayate quickly moved to end the match so she could get to a medical team faster.

"Continuing is impossible and thus-"

"Don't stop it!" Naruto yelled out, cutting him off.

He inwardly cursed at that and turned towards Neji. He was going to stop the boy before he even had the chance to move towards his slowly standing cousin. The boy had a darkness in him that was worrying, but it wasn't as bad as Sasuke. He moved forward when Hinata said the one thing that set Neji off. He had a hold of the boy by the back of his shirt and was quite glad to have someone who used juken under his tutelage as he easily held him in a manner that would keep him from being hit.

"The match is over," He informed the teen.

"She needs a medic!" Yuzuki yelled and she activated her byakugan to see a small group of chakras heading towards the down girl.

She moved forward as Naruto jumped down to see if she was all right. Hinata was carried away and Naruto made a promise to beat the snot out of Neji and she couldn't help but to agree with that. She looked towards the screen and wondered who was going to go next. It stopped and everyone tensed at what it said as a loud cheer went through area.

_Gaara vs Lee. _


	16. Chapter 16

**Finally, I rushed to get to this chapter so I could write Yuzuki's fight. Also, here's a blog on tumblr for anything you might want to send my way: asoldiersregret.(tumblr).com** **because fanfiction is weird with urls. I also created a small poll for the final pairing, there's only two and I've been on the fence about them (it will be up the entire month of July and half of August). The earlier chapters have been cleaned up a bit and checked for spelling errors, not everything will be caught but several have been fixed!**

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16

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Yuzuki stared at the destroyed arena, Lee had gone all out and still lost. She looked towards Gaara and noted that he seemed a bit frazzled by the fact that his sand hadn't been fast enough to stop some of Lee's attacks. Destroying one of his arms and legs was going too far, especially since Lee had damaged them by opening the gates. She looked at the red head and couldn't help but hope she didn't have to face off against him.

Hayate was having similar thought. He was worried about his student; she would need speed to win the next round. He'd have to talk to Genma and see if she could possibly learn the Hiraishin, and give her an edge that the other kids wouldn't have. It was something the Yondaime had taught the Hokage guard platoon to increase their arrival time. They would have to make time to teach her Fuinjutsu while increasing her regular training, knowing Anko she'd join to increase the kids understanding of genjutsu.

"He might never be a shinobi again," Yuzuki muttered ad she frowned at that thought, "That is the worst thing to happen to him."

"It's horrible," Ino agreed.

They looked towards the screen for the tenth match. Ino was hoping it was Yuzuki against Choji, she would be kinder to him than the remaining oto-nin. She saw the small bead of sweat going down the taller girl's face and knew she was hoping for the same thing. If she faced Choji then there was a chance the two of them wouldn't have to fight a second time, but the randomizer still put Hinata and Neji together. There was still a chance that she would still have to fight. She checked her chakra levels and gave a slight sigh of relief; she was still running with a full reserve. Sparingly using the byakugan and the juken hit to the wall hadn't taken much out of her.

Akimichi Choji Vs Dosu Kinuta.

"Well then, match ten will begin," Hayate informed them as the two arrived on the arena.

"Oh no," Yuzuki muttered as she winced, Choji was going to lose against Dosu.

"You can do it!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Come on Fatass!" Ino cheered.

"The hell kind of encouragement is that Ino?" Yuzuki questioned.

"The best kind." She answered with a slight grin.

Yuzuki couldn't help the strange sound that came from her at the answer. She sometimes didn't understand the kids she graduated the academy with. She didn't understand Genma at times, which reminded her to ask if he's ever swallowed one of his senbon before. Knowing him he hadn't, but messing with him was her favorite pastime. She turned her attention to Choji and noted that he was using his family jutsu.

He had swelled into a round shape and hid his head like a turtle. It was clever, if that was how Dosu's ability worked. She doubted that it was the case. Ino gave another cheer as he sped towards the oto-nin. Shikamaru noticed the serious expression on her face.

"Don't tell me that your studying the opponent," He muttered.

"Remember Zaku's arms?" She questioned, "They had metal tubes in them and that cause his arm to explode when he fought against Shino…what if there's something similar in Dosu's arms?"

"That would explain how he's able to perform the jutsu that allows him to attack without needing to touch his opponent," He agreed, "I guess we'll have to buy him barbeque to lessen the sting of loss."

"Wow, such faith," She muttered, "But it's nice of you."

"Not everyone can cook."

Choji was pinned against the wall and Dosu used his jutsu on him with ease. Choji seemed to forget that the human body was seventy percent water. He had to have some good acoustics if he had gone down that quickly.

"Winner, Dosu Kinuta," Hayate announced, "And now we shall have the tie breaker match!"

Everyone turned towards the board once more, several of the competitors couldn't compete any more so that narrowed the list down. Yuzuki watched as her name appeared, that was a given, and her eyes lit up. Haruno Sakura against Yamanaka Yuzuki. Oh, she was starting to think someone up there liked her. She easily vaulted herself off the railing and waited for the pinkette to come down.

"Oh, no," Shikamaru murmured, "This is going to be a massacre."

"Do you think she might be the fastest to finish her match?" Ino questioned.

"That's a possibility," He answered.

"How strong is she?" Naruto questioned.

"Stronger than most of us," Ino answered, "I've watched her train since we were young, she's spent so much time training that it's ridiculous."

Kakashi almost felt bad for his student, but he supposed it could be considered a lesson in running one's mouth. The pinkette took up a stance as Yuzuki slid into the juken position. He could see the way his student paled at the sight of the style that took down Hinata. It looked as though she was finally understanding where she stood.

"This match shall begin," Hayate announced.

Yuzuki seemed to vanish from Sakura's vision, but a sudden hit to her shoulder was enough to tell her where the taller teen had gone. She was easily removed from her feet and tried to keep an eye on the girl. Shikamaru found her, with some difficulty, and watched as the girl appeared below the pinkette and kicked upwards causing her to go higher. She seemed to vanish once more, and Sakura slammed into the destroyed arena floor.

When she seemed to gain her breath, she looked up to see the tip of a sword right above her heart. Hayate watched as pale eyes met green and the cold anger that radiated from Yuzuki was insane. Killing intent was leaking from her and covering the other kunoichi. She began to lower the sword even more.

"Give up," She ordered, "Or I won't give you another chance to do so."

Sakura glared at the other girl, but the way she was shaking was enough to show how scared she was. She felt as though she was going to be run through by the long tachi above her. She was right about what a monster Yuzuki was. There was no holding back, no hesitation, just pure violence.

"She'd be an idiot not to give up," Shikamaru said.

"I won't give up," Sakura grounded out.

"So be it," Yuzuki sighed.

She sheathed her tachi and easily picked up the pinkette and brought her down with enough strength to knock her out. It was a mercy; she wasn't going to kill the girl. She waited for Hayate to call it and he moved to check on the pinkette.

"Winner of the tie breaker, Yamanaka Yuzuki," He announced, "With this, the preliminary trials for the next test have been completed."

"She didn't show any hesitation," Anko muttered before giving a sly grin, "It appears she actually can hold a grudge."

"There's always next time," Kakashi said as his student was retrieved by a medical team.

Ino and Shikamaru shared a look, it was doubtful that Sakura would want to continue being a shinobi after that. She had lost twice, and in quick succession. They knew that they would need to train hard if they were to beat Yuzuki in the last round, or the suna-nin for that matter. Naruto stared at the girl who had beaten his crush, and wondered what it would've been like to have her on his team.

What it would have been like to have someone who wouldn't hit him when he did something stupid. He was slightly bitter that it hadn't happened. He headed down to stand with her along with the other genin who had passed the preliminaries. He stood next to Dosu and Ino was next to her at the end. She didn't say anything, and seemed to be staring at a specific spot.

"Ah, there it is," The Sandaime muttered as he studied her, "Remorse."

So, just because she had mercilessly beat the other girl into the ground it didn't mean that she didn't feel bad for her. She even held back enough to make sure she wouldn't be in the hospital for a prolonged period. That kind of control was amazing for one that young, but then again she wasn't that young. She still had the ability to feel remorse after so many years, which is why he hadn't placed her in a cell.

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the next round, congratulations," Hayate announced before turning towards their leader, "Well then, Hokage-sama, if you would please."

"Well, now I'd like to start explaining the main test," The Sandaime informed them, "As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries, I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves, which is why the finals will be held a month from now."

Yuzuki was a bit relieved that she'd have some time to prepare. She brought a hand up and rubbed the back of her neck in thought. She had some time to train up to the level of someone like Neji or Temari. She wasn't too worried about the others, save Gaara. If she had to go against Gaara she would immediately forfeit her match. That would be a suicide fight, and one she would try to avoid even if it was a mission. It was better to have failed a mission than have her teammates killed.

"Oh man, I was hoping that we could start fighting now." Naruto grumbled.

"This break will allow you to make preparations," The Sandaime informed them.

"What does that mean?" Neji questioned.

"In other words, in addition to informing all the various country Lords and Shinobi leaders this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event," He answered, "And this is also the preparation time for you participants."

"What does that mean? Just what are you trying to say?" Kankuro asked.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself," He answered, "It's the time period where you calculate your chances of winning, by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up till now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent."

Shikamaru looked towards the suna-nin and couldn't help but agree with that statement. He looked towards Yuzuki and that agreement deepened. She didn't even show what she could do. She had given them the barest amount of information while gathering the most she could. He wondered if she held back when they played shogi, or if games like that didn't hold her attention well. A fight held her attention and she planned accordingly, while she lost focus halfway through a game of shogi.

"However, the final trial will not be like this," The Sandaime pulled him from his thoughts, "There are those who showed all that they can do already to their rivals, there are those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves, of course it'll be fine to rest your body as well."

"Ah, how troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but, there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can," The Sandaime informed them.

"What the hell is it! I've got to train now!" Naruto yelled.

"Well, don't get so excited," He said, "There are pieces of paper inside the box that Anko's holding so each of you take one."

"I'll come around, so wait your turn," Anko ordered and she started with Dosu, "Only one per person!"

She went to each genin. Hayate watched as Yuzuki put her arm in with narrowed eyes. She had slight bruising on her arm, and he wondered where she could have gotten it from. She pulled out the piece of paper and looked down at it with a blank expression. Then something like suspicion crossed her face.

"All right, you all took a piece, now then I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order," Ibiki ordered them, "Starting from the left."

"Eight," Dosu stated.

"One," Naruto said.

"Seven," Temari said.

"Five," Kankuro said.

"Ten," Gaara said.

"Nine," Shikamaru said.

"Two," Neji stated.

"Six," Shino all but muttered.

"Three," Ino spoke.

"Four," Yuzuki said.

"That would mean that Uchiha Sasuke will be number eleven," Ibiki stated as he finished writing something down.

Hayate looked towards Yuzuki and noticed the slight frown on her face. Ino looked towards her and they both wondered if what they thought was going to be correct. They were going to face off against one another. Ino was so screwed, but judging by the reluctant expression on Yuzuki's face she didn't want to fight her. She just hoped that the other girl didn't hurt her too much, at least not as badly as Sakura.

"Now, I will reveal to you the final tournament!" The Sandaime announced.

"That's what we drew numbers for?!" Shikamaru yelled in surprise.

"Now, Ibiki, show them the match arrangements," The Sandaime ordered.

"Yes," Ibiki gave a curt nod.

Ino and Yuzuki cringed upon seeing their names against each other. They'd have to fight either Neji or Naruto if they won, and then Gaara. Gaara was going to wipe out the competition with ease. There was something about the red head that caused them some worry. He was ready to kill his way to the top and no one would be able to stop him.

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like," The Sandaime told them, "With this I'll dismiss you all, but are there any final questions?"

"Can I ask a question?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes." The Sandaime said with a grandfatherly smile.

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean there's only one winner right?" He continued, "Which would mean that only one person could become a chuunin, right?"

"No, that's not quite it," The Sandaime told him, "There will be judges including myself, Kazekage, and lords of various countries that will make mission requests and other ninja leaders, who will be watching the final test. Throughout the tournament these judges will be evaluating your abilities, those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chuunin will be able to become a chuunin, even if they lose in their first match."

"That means that, it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chuunin?" Temari questioned.

"Yes, but it also gives the possibility that no one will become a chuunin."

Shikamaru couldn't help but find the whole thing a big hassle. Even if he didn't win, he'd still risk the chance of becoming a chuunin. It was such a drag. He stared at the old leader in front of him with slight annoyance, if he had known that he wouldn't have come to the exam.

"To advance in the tournament means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges," The Sandaime added, "Do you understand Shikamaru? Well, thank you all for the effort you exerted for these trials, you're all dismissed until a month from now!"

All the other genin dispersed as Yuzuki waited for Hayate. The man nodded at something that was said to him before putting a hand on her shoulder. There wasn't anything said between the two of them, but she did get some comfort from him being near. It was strange, like he was trying to comfort her. She wondered if he was angry about something.

"You did good," He told her with a slight smile, "But how'd you bruise your arms?"

"I hit the floor that was jutting out," She answered and he noted the tired expression on her face, "It was a slight miscalculation due to how deep she went into the rubble."

He gave her a look and pulled her into a piggyback ride. She was starting to feel tired due to the amount of excitement she had been through in the week. She had her arms gently wrapped around his neck and her chin was resting on his shoulder. She couldn't help but find some enjoyment out of being carried like this.

"I'm sorry," She softly apologized.

"For what?" He asked.

She didn't answer and he watched as she looked at the road ahead of them. He gave a quiet sigh and picked up his speed, he had something he needed to do. He needed to see if the information he had overheard was still valid. His hold on Yuzuki's legs tightened and she flinched in slight surprise.

"Would you do something for me?" He asked her.

"Depends on what it is." She answered.

"I need you to be at the library tonight," He told her, "If I get injured make sure to make as much noise as you can to alert ANBU."

"What about you?" She asked him, "If your hurt a medical team would take too long to get there."

"It's all right," He said, and she stared at him with wide eyes, "I'm prepared for that."

He was surprised when a fist crashed down on the top of his head and he saw glossy pale eyes staring at him. He had angered her with that. She had to be pretty attached to him to be angry at the idea of his death, he was touched by that. It did bring about a problem he had tried to avoid. He had formed bonds with people. Genma was a close friend of his and Yuzuki had wormed her way into his heart as well and seemed to have dug her claws in.

"You are not going to die again," She growled at him, "I'll run you to the hospital myself if I have to."

She'd deplete her chakra down to almost nothing if she did, but she refused to let him die in a situation that was avoidable. She could remove the chakra from her weights to increase her speed, but even then she might end up being too slow. That didn't stop her from finding herself in the shinobi library, hiding her chakra and reading an iryo-jutsu scroll while keeping an ear out for Hayate.

"Damn him," She grumbled as she frowned, "What is it with me and liking self-sacrificing men?"

She had to worry about that particular trait, she really needed to worry about the fact that she did like him. She also liked Kakashi and she was starting to wonder if she just liked men who were teachers…that made sense with how she thought Iruka was adorable. Did…Did she have a thing for teachers? Was that some kind of weird kink?

"Huh…" She muttered.

She jumped when an explosion happened outside of the library. She jumped to her feet and quickly put the scroll away. She ran to the window and got ready to scream as loud as she could. Hayate had a sword to the suna-nin's neck, but was being stopped by the man's hand. The man held up his hand and blood splattered all over the roof. He seemed pleased with himself until a shrill scream rang through the area.

Hayate almost smirked, their plan went off without a hitch. Lights were being turned on and ANBU was already on their way. The suna jonin clicked his tongue and quickly jumped away. His dark eyes closed for a few seconds before a figure next to him caught his attention.

"You are a fucking idiot," was all he needed to hear to know who it was as something wet hit his face, "ANBU really has the slowest response time ever."

"Don't cry," He told her.

"Fuck your don't cry bullshit," She hissed at him before turning to the ANBU that finally appeared, "There was a suna-nin that just left the area, he can't stay here he needs medical!"

One of the ANBU, the purple-haired one, gave a nod and watched as the twelve-year-old easily picked up the injured man and hoisted him onto her back. She gave ANBU a nod and jumped from the roof. They started to track where the suna-nin had gone, his chakra was still heavy in the air. The fact that an attack happened on their soil was an insult to them.

"Stay awake goddamn it.," Yuzuki cursed at the older man on her back as she raced through the streets of Konoha.

She saw the hospital in the distance and pushed more chakra to her legs. She burst through the doors and scared half the doctors inside. It was pandemonium when she dropped to the floor and didn't move. Nurses and Doctors raced around to get the two onto gurneys and towards their respective areas.

She was placed in the chakra exhaustion wing while he was quickly rushed into surgery with medical-nin. His condition was shaky, and they were working around the clock to make sure he pulled through. The procedure went on for thirteen hours until they were sure he would be fine.

Within those thirteen hours things within the village became tense. Those from Suna and Oto were worried that he might survive, but the hospital was under such heavy security that they couldn't get through to kill him off. Genma was part of that security, and he hated every second of it. His best friend and kid had landed themselves in the hospital, granted she wasn't in as bad of condition as he was.

"Damn it kid," He grumbled as he was relieved of his guard duty and visited her, "You sure can sleep."

"Yeah, and your point is?" Came her grumbled reply as she woke up.

She seemed out of sorts and was completely confused when he pulled her into a hug. She was tense, but eventually melted into the hug and brought a hand up to grasp onto his flak jacket. It was nice, she would have to ask him for hugs more often. He broke the hug and sat down on a nearby chair.

"What happened to Hayate?" She asked him in a serious tone.

"He's out of surgery and will make a full recovery," Genma informed her and watched as her shoulders slumped in relief, "Whatever that suna-nin did it seemed to dislodge the fluid he had in his lungs."

"Is…is there not a cure for Pneumonia here?" She questioned him with a surprised expression, "How would that even be possible?"

"There's a cure, but his case kept reappearing no matter how many times they healed it," He answered while bopping her head slightly, "But it seems like it might clear up this time."

"That's good," She sighed.

"Let's go get something to eat," He said noticing her expression and he held up a hand when she went to argue with him, "He's getting some rest, he wouldn't want you to slack off on your training."

"Are you any good with swords?" She asked him with a blank look.

"I know a guy or two," Genma informed her, "Don't worry, you'll kick ass."

"I won't fight against Gaara," She told him, and he seemed surprised, "With how easily he beat Lee, I doubt that even I would be able to last against him."

"Set your weights to the heaviest you can handle at the moment," He ordered and she looked at him with slight confusion, "I think I might just have a training regiment we can do for a month."

She was worried at that but set her weight to fifty-five pounds. She then changed into a pair of clothes that Genma had brought her, he was a big enough of a gentleman to step out of the room while she did, and they went out for food. Ichiraku ramen wasn't her first choice for food, but she understood his need for something fast.

"I'm going to increase your understanding of genjutsu and work with your secondary nature," He informed her as she began to eat her miso ramen, "Both can be paired with speed and taijutsu training."

She nodded her understanding, but didn't say anything. He was starting to wonder just how hungry she was. She probably didn't eat anything due to the stress that Hayate had put her under by asking for her help. He couldn't help but be annoyed that he wasn't asked for help, yet it was touching. He didn't want anyone else to be hurt, and with her they could easily take her out of the village for her month of training.

"Can we stop and get him some flowers?" She quietly asked as she waited for him to finish his ramen.

"Sure, he's allergic to suitopi's though," He warned her.

"I wouldn't get him those any way, it's like begging him to die," She told him horror, "Those mean goodbye."

"Then what were you going to get him?" He asked.

"I was going to get him some sunflowers."

Ah a sunny flower to help try and cheer him up. He nodded and paid for their meal, they headed to the Yamanaka flower shop and she sighed in relief that Ino was running the counter. She waved at the blonde who rushed forward and pulled her into a hug.

"I heard you were in the hospital due to chakra exhaustion," She informed the taller girl before shaking her shoulders, "Don't go pushing yourself that much."

"I won't," Yuzuki sounded so hassled that Genma was barely able to keep in a snort at the sight.

"Why are you here?" Ino asked.

"Ah, Shishou is in the hospital and I wanted to get him some flowers," She answered, "I think I'll also get some for Lee, he might appreciate the thought."

"You had just met him," Ino said as she followed the taller girl around as she collected sunflowers she wanted.

"And yet, he was still kind to me," She shrugged, "He never judged me and had given me such an enthusiastic introduction."

"Ume."

"Ah, Ino, did you just call me a plum tree?"

"Yeah, you're like the blossoms."

She watched as her cousin started to turn a light pink at those words. She then gave her a smile of thanks before paying for her flowers and heading out with the senbon chewing man. Ino went back to the counter with a thoughtful expression on her face. Ume blossoms told of elegance and loyalty, and they always bloomed in the spring before cherry blossoms. She never did tell her cousin that Sakura was still in the hospital.

She knew that the other girl would feel horrible if she did. She rested her cheek in her hand and waited for another customer to come in, her mother was having her do cashier duty before training for the rest of the month. She needed to be as strong as she could get to hold her own against her cousin for as long as she could. She grinned to herself, she just needed to see what her sensei could do.

"Your still a fucking idiot," Yuzuki informed Hayate upon noticing the man was awake.

"Hokage-sama is in the room," He sighed.

"And he has every right to know that I think you're an idiot and that I'm mad at you," She huffed as she put his flowers into a clear case, she then turned towards the Sandaime, "I can leave if you want, I was just dropping off these flowers."

"Such a spirited youth, you remind me of someone," The Sandaime chuckled before shaking his head, "You are free to stay, Hayate here has finished giving me his report, and I must say well done playing the distraction."

"It would have been better if there were more people that were brought in, but I understand the need for secrecy," She grumbled as she looked towards the side in slight embarrassment.

While he did agree, he knew that bringing too many people into an unknown situation was the worst thing. She seemed to recognize it but was still upset at how things went. She was worried for a teammate, and she knew that there was nothing she could've done to prevent him from being hurt. She took a seat at Hayate's bed side and he noticed how the chair creaked under her weight, ah he had missed having genin under his wing. To have them using weights was his favorite thing, sometimes chakra weights could have their chakra feed tampered with and cause the wearers to fall to the ground.

"Well, I shall see what can be done," He informed the two and they looked towards him with identical expressions on their faces, "For now, get some rest Hayate."

"I won't be able to leave the hospital for the rest of the month," Hayate informed her as their leader left.

"I had a feeling that might happen," She sighed as she crossed her arms, "Genma was thinking about taking me out of the village for the month to train."

"Good," He sighed in relief and she gave him a look, "You'll be safe if any enemy nin try to attack you."

"What about you?" She quietly asked.

"There's heavy security and I'm a jonin, I'll be fine," He told her as he brought a hand up and placed it on the top of her head, "I'm not leaving you anytime soon, besides if I did you might find a way to bring me back."

"Damn right I would," She chuckled.

"My one request is that you take the contract scroll you have and sign it," He said and she gained an uncomfortable expression on her face, "They will help you learn what you can and increase your chakra, just because someone you didn't like used them doesn't mean anything."

"Yuna really is good at keeping secrets, he didn't tell you anything when you talked to him," She said with a tired expression, "I don't dislike the man who was my father, it's hard to dislike someone who was never there and when he was, was so distant and cold."

Oh, it made sense to Hayate why she had clung to Genma as she had. She never really had a father be an actual father. He sat up in the bed, much to her shock and horror, and slowly brought her in for a one-armed hug. She just stood there before returning it.

"I'm sorry," He softly apologized.

"It's not your fault," She murmured, "Never apologize for something that isn't your fault."

"Good advice you should follow it sometime."

"Shut up, Hayate."


	17. Chapter 17

**Someone mentioned that Yuzuki was being extremely mean to Sakura and it's explained a bit more in the next few chapters, and before you get mad at me, let me make this clear, I don't hate Sakura. I'm disappointed that there was such promise for her character. She could've been just as strong as her two teammates, but she let her obsession with Sasuke take over her life after the Sasori battle. I had been so proud that she had grown during that battle, but then she was back to how she acted during the first half. It was such a let down of what could have been a cool and completely badass. (Honestly, for the poll, I'm kind of hoping that Hayate wins because he is a soft boi, but I want you guys to have a say in who wins it!)**

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17

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"You okay?" Genma asked Yuzuki as she walked behind him.

"Yeah, just thinking," She answered with a slight frown, "Why would suna join forced with oto, didn't the Kazekage work hard to get the current alliance with us?"

"I agree it doesn't make sense," He nodded, "But sometimes what people do, doesn't make sense."

"Where are we even going?" She asked him with a strange expression on her face.

"It's a secret," He said, and she gave him a look, "Besides, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Why are you so angry at Sakura, why not Kakashi?"

She paused at that and tried to think about it. She was guilty of acting better than the pinkette, but even she was letting her emotions get the better of her. She was taking out her anger and frustrations on the pinkette. She was being the bitch her men called her when she reached her peak annoyance.

"Because I really don't handle elevated levels of anger well."

"What kind of an answer if that?"

"The truth and I suppose I'm angry at her for squandering away her time and not taking initiative, but I'm also angry at Kakashi for not helping her get stronger."

Genma stared at her for a few seconds and realized that she had gone after the easiest target without thinking. She was acting a bit more like a child then she usually did. He stopped for a few seconds and she did the same. He put a hand on her forehead and one on his. She wasn't running a fever, but there had to be a reason behind the odd behavior.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, you aren't running a fever," He muttered, "What's got you so out of sorts that you aren't acting normal?"

She stood there for a few seconds when it finally hit her. Ah puberty, an absolute tornado of emotions that were hard to control. One minute she could be normal and then the next angry. She looked at him with a blank expression as she tried to find a way to explain it without sounding embarrassed. She supposed the direct way was the best way.

"Puberty," She said, "I'd forgotten that I had such trouble during my teenage years, I was as rebellious as I could be."

"Ah, if that's all we can fix that," He said in a cheerful tone and she felt a shiver go down her spine, "And when we get back you can yell at Kakashi."

"Oh, I will," She said, "And I'll try to apologize to Sakura."

"Good, but I wasn't expecting the apology," He stated with a raised brow, "She called you a heartless monster, you don't really need to apologize for that."

"And acting like she does makes it all right?" She asked with a frown, "That just makes me a hypocrite!"

"It does."

"I hate you sometimes."

"I know, but sometimes you need someone to keep you from going too far."

"Yeah, I might've gotten her to stop being a ninja if you hadn't pointed out my behavior."

"You did."

She froze at that, her mouth parted for a few seconds before she slowly closed it, and the guilt on her face was obvious. She may have been too rough with her in her anger. She clenched the straps of her backpack in hands and started to walk away from Genma. He watched her go and noticed that she wouldn't look up from the ground. He shouldn't have told her that. He started to follow and watched as she kicked rocks on her way.

She had caused someone to quit. She didn't really want her to do so, she thought the girl was made of sterner stuff. She tightened her hold on the straps of her bag and frowned. Oh god, she was a terrible person. Sakura was right, she was a heartless monster. She didn't want her to quit, she just wanted her to clean up her act.

"Damn it." She muttered.

"Let's take a break for lunch and try to sign that summoning scroll," Genma said and she gave a tiny nod.

She took off her backpack and was about to put it down when she ducked and rolled to the side. There was a kunai in the tree where she had just been. She jumped back and reached into kunai pouch and tossed three at the brunette. He raised a brow and easily deflected them. She pulled chakra to her legs and was about to run forward when she simply collapsed. She was so tired.

"You're still suffering from chakra exhaustion," Genma commented and he poked her in the back with his kunai, "No matter how strong you are, there is always someone stronger than you that can use your weaknesses against you."

She frowned at him and clenched her jaw as she tried to move her arm. She couldn't even lift them, she had to wonder just how he had messed with her weights. She sent a burst of her chakra out and lightened how heavy they were and knocked the kunai out of the way and grabbed onto his arm and tried to drag him down to her level. He switched with a log and she quickly moved to her feet and dodged a senbon sent her way.

She was forced on the defensive by a flurry of senbon. She had to jump back, but still ended up with a leg covered in senbon. He wasn't playing around; he was taking her seriously. There was something that he was doing, and she didn't know what it was. She felt her chest heaving and tried to think about it. She crouched down and started to sprint towards him.

"Behind you," He said, and her eyes widened.

She hit the ground as he drop kicked her. She was kept down by a foot between her shoulders and she was forced to listen to her heavy breathing. Her heart was thumping in her chest and she slowly looked towards him. His expression was unreadable.

"I lied you know," He told her, "You truly are out of sorts if you couldn't pick that up."

Ah, so Sakura was still a genin. She felt some relief at that but pondered his words. Her hubris had caused her to believe she was better than others. She was finally let up and he went to take his lunch a few seconds away from her. She could feel his disappointment from where she sat. he gave her the permission to wipe the floor with her, but she really did go too far.

She stared down at her hands; the scars that littered the pale skin seemed to mock her. She was starting to find that she didn't like making her father figure disappointed. With her previous grandfather it had been so easy to disappoint him that she had just ignored it. Now, with someone she really cared about, it hurt. Her throat constricted and she pushed down the tears that wanted to rise. Now wasn't the time to be acting like a child, she gave that up years ago. She needed to act like an adult, but was she really?

How could she be considered an adult if she was stuck in such a form?

Thirty-five years of living was starting to make her question her existence. It wasn't that she had lived that long, it was the conflicting memories and feelings, the lies that she let herself believe. She couldn't help but wonder if she was Yamanaka Yuzuki or…huh she couldn't remember what her name had been in her past life. What was it again? It didn't matter, all that she knew was that she was a horrible person.

"Kid?" Genma asked as he felt her chakra go flat.

"Genma," She sounded so small, "I really am a horrible person."

Ah, now he felt bad. He rubbed the back of his head and chewed on the senbon hanging from his mouth. He meant to drive it home that she shouldn't let her emotions cloud her judgment and to lay off the pinkette that had earned their ire, but he didn't mean to make her question her existence. Who the hell fucked his kid up so much? This wasn't completely brought about by his actions; this was something that had been growing for years.

"What's your earliest memory?" He asked her, "It doesn't matter if it's from this life or your previous one."

"My father's funeral," She answered, and he looked towards her, "There's a reason why he wasn't there, a gun to his head ended his life."

"Was it by his hand?" He asked.

"No, someone tried to rob him as he was shutting the gate at his work," She answered, "They never caught the guy."

"What's your favorite?"

"As much as I love you and Hayate, babysitting my niece she would always make me flower crowns to wear and this tough admiral would happily wear them."

Ah, there she was. That smile on her face was what he wanted. He got up from his spot and decided to plop down next to her. He watched as she began to pluck some of the wildflowers around them and started to slowly weave them into a crown.

"I taught her how to do so, she ended up being better at it than me even if her first attempts weren't the best, I was proud of her."

"You didn't have any kids of your own?" He questioned in surprise.

"My grandfather reacted negatively to my older brother having a kid and I guess it really stuck with me," She answered, "He lived in my house, and I would never bring a child into that environment."

"Ah, now there's someone you hate," He muttered.

"He's the reason I'm like this," She huffed, "He's the one who first taught me to kill, though it was with a gun, taught me to hide my emotions to the point where even I bought the lies that I spouted."

"If I ever meet the guy in the afterlife, he's the first on my list to try and kill again."

"Thanks, Genma."

"What about your mother in this life?"

"She hated me, she believed that I should've had the bird cage seal on my person like she did."

He had a feeling that he knew what that hate had brought. He remembered seeing her back before her parents had died, she was even quieter and wore long sleeves all the time. Yuna really didn't tell them anything about how her parents treated her, but his uncomfortable expression when answering what he could had been all that they needed. He began to braid her hair and she sent him a look as he weaved flowers in it.

"Someone once told me, that as much as we remember the past it does not do well to dwell upon it," He told her.

"_Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment_," She quietly quoted, "Buddha might've had a point with those words, I think I missed out on becoming a monk."

"You would've been a shit monk."

"Thanks, Dad."

Genma snickered at that and they started on their journey again. This time they were using the trees and chakra to go faster. He knew that there was a small town that did gambling that allowed konoha-nin to train there. He couldn't remember the name of it, he was sure that it didn't have a name. He was hoping that they would run into the slug-hime by chance, his kid had some luck when it came to such things.

"Please stop messing with my weights," He heard Yuzuki huff from behind him as he paused on a tree branch.

"You need to learn how to stop it from happening," He said in an offhanded manner.

"Right," She nodded.

"This will be a month of trying to get your emotions under control and to use your abilities to their fullest," He informed her, "You need to manage your time correctly."

"Understood."

"I won't be easy on you."

"I got that from your little stunt a while ago."

He rolled his eyes at that as they finally reached the gambling village. He found a hotel that catered to ninjas and booked a room with two beds. The owner gave him a raised brow. He was a bit annoyed by that and Yuzuki sighed.

"He's my Dad," Yuzuki piped up while giving the man a look, "What's going through your mind sir?"

"O-Oh, my apologies." The Owner apologized.

Genma accepted the keys to the room they'd be staying in for a month and they headed deeper into the hotel to reach their room. He waited a few minutes before ruffling her hair. She was starting to get back to normal, she needed that talk. She needed someone to point out her behavior.

"I can't believe people," She muttered as she gave a yawn.

"Go ahead and get some sleep kiddo," Genma ordered, "You'll need it."

She grumbled at that but kicked off her sandals and slipped into the bed closets to the window. If she woke up due to a nightmare, then she'd have something to watch and try to calm down. It didn't take her long to fall sleep and he sat down on the other bed and pulled out a scroll that Hayate had handed him before they left. He opened it and started to read it.

It was a plan for her training that he had written up before the second exam started. He wanted her to work on kenjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. He was throwing in the hiraishin to help with her speed, and as such was going to teach her fuinjutsu. He brought a pen out of one of pouches and slowly started to add that to the scroll. He wanted to keep her on track. He thought for a few seconds before writing something else.

_Family bonding, and attitude adjustment._

If she ever got a hold of that then she'd get a kick out of it. He looked towards the sleeping genin and noticed that she looked peaceful. His expression softened a bit and he removed the hitai-ate from her forehead and placed it on the bedside table. She really did look like a kid.

"Y'know, I kind of want to see you have a family," he quietly muttered, "You'd be happy, and that's all that matters."

She mumbled something in her sleep and burrowed into the blankets a bit more. It was an adorable sight and he chuckled as he headed back to his bed and laid down. He kicked off his sandals and placed his hitai-ate on the table as well. He closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep. He couldn't wait to train up his kid.

* * *

"This is an auditory genjutsu," He informed her as they began to train the next day, "You seem to be handy with them, but here's one that'll allow you to confuse your opponent."

"Right," She nodded as she waited for him to perform the hand seals.

He did so and he watched as she copied them for a few seconds to get the pacing right. He nodded and she closed her eyes to perform it. He sat there and waited for something to happen. It was strange, everything had gone silent and then he heard a distant song beginning to play. He jumped when he heard a loud "aaahaaaaha hooked on a feeling!" followed by loud music.

"What the hell?" He questioned her.

"It's Hooked on a Feeling by blue swede, it's a good song," She huffed.

"It's weird," he muttered, "You were able to startle me with that, just what kind of music did you listen to?"

He was subjected to it. Metal mixed with pop songs; she had listened to some Japanese music before her death. Artists like Eve, Baby Metal, and the cover artist Miy_yuu had been the majority of what she had listened to. He stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. She was going to drive people insane with such music. He could just imagine the pure joy on Anko's face. He really needed to make sure they didn't burn the village down.

"Hey, don't diss my music likes," She grumbled.

"Fine, let's work on that taijutsu shall we?"

It was two weeks in that Genma found his first snag with their training. She was progressing faster than he thought she would. She was starting to keep up with him going all out. She still couldn't land a proper hit, but she was able to keep the amount of injuries she received to a minimal amount. He hadn't worked with her on summoning yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before she signed that scroll and gained control the summons for it.

He had left her on the training grounds, he knew she wasn't in any danger, to train by herself for a while. He needed to go grab lunch for the two of them. He was starting to miss her home cooked meals. Yuzuki watched him leave in a slightly amused fashion, she could tell that when they made it back to the village she would have to make a group dinner. That was after she yelled at Kakashi, beautiful man be damned.

She shouldn't be allowed to advance due to her actions towards Sakura, but she promised herself that she would do better.

She slid into the juken stance and began to move through it, pushing herself to go faster with each strike. She slammed her palm into the ground and pushed some chakra through the point there and created a small crater. She barely winced at the slight burns that appeared on her hands from such an action and continued to try and make a larger crater. She brought her other hand down and grimaced at the wasted chakra in that attack. It created a larger crater, but she gathered that it could've been done with less chakra wasted.

"One more time," She huffed as she wiped at the sweat on her brow.

She readied herself and brought her palm down again. She almost smirked at the crater that was left behind, she was right about the amount of chakra. She was brought out of her victory by an unknown chakra near her and she quickly threw a kunai towards it. It was caught by a young blonde around her age, with wide amber eyes.

"Woah, I just heard the commotion and wanted to see what it was." The blonde said.

She stared at her for a few seconds before pulling a face of disbelief.

"What is there something on my face?"

"N-No."

Yuzuki couldn't believe her luck as she stared at a younger Senju Tsunade. She had no clue why the woman was going around looking as young as she was, but who was she to judge. She brought her hand up and caught the kunai that was tossed back to her.

"So you're a ninja huh?" The disguised Tsunade asked as she walked towards the genin, "Working through some things?"

"You could say that, I'm training for the chuunin exams," Yuzuki found herself saying, she knew that she couldn't lie to the blonde, "I want to be at my strongest."

"Why do you want such power?"

"To protect those I care about, someone close to me almost died…I want to make sure he stays safe."

"Lucky guy, sounds like you really love him."

Yuzuki turned a bright red and slightly sputtered at that. The disguised Tsunade watched as the girl brought her hands up to her face to try and hide how red it was. It was such a reaction to being flustered, little did she know that it was the first time she truly was.

"I mean I care about him yes, but love is a bit much!"

"With a reaction like that I wonder."

The glare sent her way by the preteen brought a smirk to her face. She brought a hand up and flicked her right in the head. She watched the pale eyes widen in surprise before she let out a slight hiss of pain. She rubbed at her forehead to try and remove the red spot.

"Would you mind if I try to spar with you?" She asked the girl.

"A-Ah…sure." Yuzuki almost sounded defeated.

Genma she was starting to be able to keep up with, a Sannin was going to decimate her. It was divine punishment for what she did to Sakura, she was sure of it. Five minutes later saw a downed Yuzuki trying to get back up, she wasn't bleeding though. She found it odd that the sannin didn't seem to hit her to the point where she was bleeding. She wondered if the older woman was afraid of blood.

"Not bad," Tsunade softly said, "But you need to get better."

"Aren't you supposed to be a normal girl?" Yuzuki pointed out.

"You and I both know that's not true, brat."

Yuzuki let out a groan at that and let her head hit the ground. She needed an actual vacation one of these days. She felt the chakra of Tsunade leave after a few seconds and she relaxed a bit. She really hadn't expected to run into a sannin this early on in her life. She felt something being set down on her head and she gave a sound of thanks to a very confused Genma.

"What'd you do, makes clones and have an all-out battle?" He questioned.

"More like ran into a Sannin," She informed him as she slowly sat up, "I think she left though."

"You don't want to chase her?" He asked.

"Fuck no," She answered, "She has her reasons for not wanting to go back to the village, I think they should be respected…its not like she's going around hurting anyone like Orochimaru."

"That's valid."

"I feel as though your mocking me."

"You might be right about that."

The look Genma received for that was priceless.


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm slightly depressing myself with this chapter and the last one, but growth is necessary! Also, English Dub Kakashi is a whole ass mood. I wish Netflix in America had Shippuden to binge, but I guess I'll just have to go to crunchy roll and listen to the sub. Also, Tsunade is difficult to write simply because most of the Naruto cast is a bit one dimensional with how they express themselves, Tsunade has her back story but she also has a temper. She can be smart, but also a drunkard with a gambling problem. I believe that everyone can show a range of emotion no matter that their default personality. **

* * *

18

* * *

A large, white, wolf stared at Yuzuki, and she stared right back. Ice blue eyes pinned her to her spot, and she wondered just what kind of summons she had made a contract with. She knew that her biological father had worked with a type of ninken, but this was ridiculous.

"You must be Aki's pup," The wolf said.

"Biologically speaking," She couldn't help herself.

He let out a snort of agreement and moved towards her. She was able to keep her slight fear under control and relaxed a bit when he plopped down next to her and put his head on her shoulder. She got a lick to the face and grimaced. She did not like that.

"You have better reactions then he did," The wolf said as he remained on her shoulder, "I am Yosuke."

"I am Yamanaka Yuzuki, it's nice to meet you," She introduced herself.

"Now, what can you do?"

She could say that a spar with a wolf was strange. It didn't take long for Yosuke to tell her not to hold back and that he could handle anything she threw war him. It didn't take long for her to hit him with all she had, he had flown quite a bit from the chakra enhanced blow. Really, anyone that knew her knew that was an accurate response. She was wondering when people were going to start watching what they said around her. Ah, no wonder she got along well with Genma they were the same person.

She was just more fucked up mentally than him.

"I suppose you should call us Okami," Yosuke informed her as he walked back, "I'm one of the third tier summons, with the amount of chakra you packed into that hit you could possibly summon the boss."

"Do you want me to try?" She asked with a slight frown.

He gave her the wolf equivalent of a grin and she took that as a yes. She took in a deep breath and quickly formed the hand signs for the summoning jutsu. Upon placing her hand down, she felt such a drain on her chakra that she almost fell on her face. She brought a hand up and waved at the smoke surrounding her.

"Who dares summon me?" A female voice grounded out.

"Lupa-hime, I found a summoner!" Yosuke announced.

Yuzuki kept in a flinch as she stared at a giant wolf with a long tail. She blinked upon noticing the type of wolf it was. Mediterranean, and darker in color. She stared into the light amber eyes and kept contact. Lupa…she knew that name, she'd heard it somewhere before.

"This is the Yamanaka's pup?" She asked.

"Biologically speaking." Yosuke answered.

"What is your name, pup?" Lupa asked Yuzuki.

"Yuzuki, ma'am," She answered, unable to keep the old military speech from slipping into her words.

She was reminded of the admiral she had first served under. That was a terrifying thought seeing as the woman had been a grueling taskmaster. She thought Hayate and Anko were bad, but they didn't have anything on her. She felt her hands tremble slightly as Lupa continued to scrutinize her.

"She'll do, this one has guts," Lupa snorted as she leaned down to be eye level with the scared genin, "But she's emotionally stunted."

"You figured that out too," Yosuke softly said.

"Now, what is it you want to do as a shinobi, pup?" Lupa questioned her.

Yuzuki almost said torture and interrogation the second she was asked such a thing. It was what she had been gunning for the entire time she was training. She thought back to the information she had read in the iryo scroll and wondered if she should become a medic-nin instead. Would it better for her to help people or hurt them? She didn't know anymore.

"I wanted to go into torture and interrogation," She admitted, "But now I find myself looking at iryo-jutsu and Fuinjutsu."

"You've come to a crossroads," Lupa softly said as she turned to Yosuke and gave a curt nod.

He vanished and the large wolf made the genin sit down while she took up the mantle of teacher. Pale eyes stared at her and she could see the uncertainty in them, and the burning need to change. She didn't want to be known as the _heartless monster_ anymore, the unfazed kunoichi that was never bothered by anything.

"You are a reborn soul, aren't you?" Lupa questioned.

"I am," Yuzuki nodded.

"One that remembers everything, but that's causing you imbalance even more than the hormones that are brought about by puberty."

"It's what makes me, me."

"Is it? Then why are you so sad?"

"Because if I let go of who I was, I feel like I would be letting go of those I loved in that life."

Ah, that made sense. Lupa looked down at the girl who was being completely truthful with her, it was probably the most honest she'd been in her life. She couldn't really talk with those around her since they didn't understand the lost feeling such souls had. Those souls, like the one in front of her, had trouble letting go of the past and suffered for it eventually. They had emotional problems that carried over from their previous life, and that stunted them as children in their new life. It brought about psychotic adults that didn't feel anything.

"If you don't you'll go down a dark path with no return," Lupa warned the preteen, "Is that what those you love would want for you?"

"No, they'd want me to be happy," Yuzuki muttered in response, "In fact my brother would've hit me over the head for being such an idiot."

The smile that appeared on the girl's face was warm and full of remembrance. It brought some hope to her future if she could still have that warmth. Lupa brought her nose down and gently touched the girl's forehead.

"You fight so much to remember, yet your own body is trying to save you from that fate…how interesting," Lupa murmured, "Have you forgotten anything?"

"I don't even remember my own name anymore," She admitted, "And certain things are becoming blurry, I still remember places and food, but names and dates are getting harder to remember."

"Then let it go," A familiar voice caused the girl to jump and Lupa to stand over her and growl protectively.

"Genma, you really shouldn't scare people like that," Yuzuki scolded the man with a frown on her face.

"He does have a point, pup," Lupa said as she went back to calmly sitting next to the girl, she didn't react when the tall child leaned to the side and burrowed herself in her fur.

"I can't forget them."

Genma stared at her for a few seconds before gaining a look of understanding. Her older brother and niece, she refused to let them go. She was afraid to forget them. He gave the wolf a slightly weary glance and took the chance to sit next to his kid. She didn't look at him, even when he brought his arm up and rested it around her shoulders.

"Just because you let go doesn't mean you'll forget them," He informed her and she looked at him, "All of us on the protection squad would say that, the Yondaime was someone to look up to and respect and when he passed we had issues moving on."

She looked at him and gently reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. They were two idiots that felt more then they let on, but Genma was hoping to break that shell so that other people could see the playful personality that slept below the cold demeanor. He wanted to prove Sakura wrong that she wasn't a heartless monster, that she could feel just as deeply as the other girl.

"All right," She quietly said in agreement, "I just wish I had a picture of them so that I would've forget their faces."

"I know someone," Lupa sighed and the two konoha-shinobi looked at her, "You are one of the Yamanaka, yes, just send their faces to me and I'll give them to him."

Yuzuki looked at her as if trying to find a trick but slowly performed the hand signs. Lupa was welcomed to the images of a laughing child with dark hair and bright blue eyes, and an older man with similar coloring with a grin. Rose and Connor. The two people she cared the most about and didn't want to forget. She understood the need to remember family, and this would help her feel like she wasn't getting rid of their memories.

"What about the food?" Genma asked to lighten the mood.

"I'll make sure to write the recipes down, they aren't that difficult," Yuzuki sighed in amusement, "Be glad I stayed with someone in Korea that knew a guy who ran a street food stand, I learned all I could during that time. Tteokbokki was one of my favorites."

"What is this tteokbokki?" Lupa asked.

"Spicey rice cakes cooked in gochujang, its sweet and spicy," She answered with a grin, "It goes well with the banana milk."

To see her talking about food with such an expression showed what she had really wanted to be in her past life. She always had an interest in cooking food from around the world, she had taken to Asian foods since she was always stationed in that area of the world. She had walked the streets of Seoul so many times that when she had learned the food she made it for special events she had to go to. Being put in charge of a potluck had always made her troops happy.

"Sounds good, do you even know how to make gochujang?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was taught how to make everything from scratch," She answered with a nod, "I'll need to make sure to write that down as well…I don't think Konoha is ready for French cuisine."

French? The two didn't even want to know what she meant by that. Genma watched as the personality she had hid was carefully shown to them. An excitable person that loved to cook, and learn how to cook, good and interesting food. He really was going to kill her grandfather if he ever met him in the afterlife, he had beaten such a person down until they didn't even feel anything without second guessing it.

"Be more like this, but serious when on missions and training," Genma told her, "Besides, with you in torture and interrogation I don't doubt that you'll find something interesting in their heads that you could use."

"Do I even still have the right temperament for torture and interrogation?" She asked him as she calmed back down.

"Yeah, the ability to shut down your emotions like you do will be perfect for such a job," He answered, "And, if you do learn iryo-jutsu, you'd make a good addition to the medical corps when there's no one to interrogate."

"Huh, did…did you help the hokage's figure out how to manage their time?" She quietly asked him, the two barely noticed Lupa leaving them.

"We all do, there's always so much paperwork," He grumbled, "No wonder you didn't want to become Hokage."

"I had enough of paperwork to last several lifetimes," She huffed in agreement, "Though I suppose becoming a medical-nin negates that, but so does being an interrogator."

"You can't escape paperwork, even as a jonin," He told her, "But I think we should go back to training, I wanted to work on your second nature and teach you a few more tricks with senbon."

"Can we start with Senbon?" She asked him, "I'm running a bit low on chakra at the moment due to summoning, Lupa-hime."

It was the Okami's title and she would be glad to use it. She frowned as she tried to remember where she had heard that name before. She paused for a few seconds before it hit her. Genma saw the strange expression on her face and raised a brow.

"What the hell are you thinking?" He asked.

"Lupa-hime, the wolf that found Romulus and Remus and is the symbol of the city of Rome," She answered, "Oh hell, it seems your world and my past world interconnected at some point, though the translation of her name in Latin is just She-wolf."

"Right, well, lets begin," He said as he tried to remove her attention from that.

Whatever had allowed their worlds to interact didn't exist anymore. He knew that and he gathered that she had come to that conclusion judging by her faraway expression. He spat the senbon in his mouth at her and she barely dodged it with an incredulous expression on her face. It then clicked into place why he always had one in his mouth.

"No wonder you always have a senbon in your mouth, that's genius," She said with wide eyes, "But…have you ever swallowed one?"

"Get training," He huffed at her as she took out a few senbon.

He taught her new ways to throw them and areas of the body to hit that would bring down an opponent without much hassle. She had to put it to the test, and she didn't look happy whenever she hit him with one. He increased the speed that he moved and made it harder for her to get a hit in, but she was slowly getting faster. She ducked a kick sent her way and brought her tachi out. He was pushing her to return any attack sent her way, he wanted her to put those weapons to good use.

He easily parried her tachi with a kunai and moved back when she pulled out the tanto. It was a move set that he was glad she was finally showing. She had put distance between the two of them and sheathed the tanto before rushing towards him with the tachi. With a quick hand sign, he watched as two more versions of her appeared. The Dance of the Crescent Moon technique and used correctly. She had him pinned within seconds of using it, he knew the attack but wanted her to have a single victory against him.

"Nicely done," He told her as she sheathed her tachi and dispelled her clones, "Hayate would be proud."

"That's good," She said as she sat down on the ground to catch her breath, "Is it break time, or do you want to see how far I can be pushed?"

"Let's see how far you can be pushed," He grinned at her.

Two hours later saw him carrying a dead asleep Yuzuki back to the hotel. She had done well learning the water bullet technique and putting it to use. She could only perform it four times before she was out of chakra. He thanked the kami for her chakra control to allow her to even do it more than twice.

"How do you not put out body heat, you little weirdo?" He quietly grumbled as he felt the cold arms around his neck.

He supposed it didn't matter, though he wondered if it was because she had been knocked out due to the lack of chakra. At least she knew when to stop using it. She muttered something in her sleep and burrowed her forehead into his shoulder. He chuckled quietly at that; she sometimes did act like the twelve-year-old she was. That adult nature didn't seem to be able to compete with a preteen that was starting to mature. Kami help anyone who tried to date her, he was going to put his skills to use scaring them away. He had to put his title of 'dad' to use didn't he?

"Why do I get the feeling that you're thinking sadistic thoughts," She grumbled as she woke up.

"Don't worry about it, you up for dinner?" He asked.

"Yeah, I could go for something to eat, we didn't have lunch," She answered with a slight nod.

"You have to walk to know," He informed her.

He got a grumble in response, but she shuffled quietly behind him as they headed towards a barbeque restaurant. They didn't have fish on the menu, but that was all right. She understood that she needed the heavy protein after the amount of training they'd done that day. She didn't even say anything about the twin tailed blonde that was drinking sake a booth away from them.

"You look like you're going to drop any second, you sure you can eat?" Genma asked her.

"I can eat," She huffed, "I might take my time doing so."

"Too bad you can't drink yet," He teased.

She grumbled something that he didn't quite catch as he ordered a few plates of beef and several plates of vegetables. They both watched the meat cook, every so often he would catch her yawning before turning over a piece. They both ignored the amber eyes on their persons, if Tsunade wanted to be left alone then who were they to bother the sannin. It wasn't worth getting punched to the next town over.

"Eat your vegetables," He said, and she gave him a look.

He couldn't help but mess with her. She shook her head in disbelief before putting some of the vegetables into the bowl with her meat. It was a quiet meal with her slowly eating while fighting the need for sleep. He almost caught her falling asleep in bowl more than once. He had put her through the ringer, but she needed it.

The next week she trained harder than before, with one more appearance from Tsunade who was more than curious about the genin. She only had a few days left before she had to head back to the village. She learned more about the monstrous strength from the woman, and surprisingly Fuinjutsu from her wolf summons. Genma hadn't started on teaching her Hiraishin, but he was planning on doing so. He just needed the weapons shop to finish with the pack of specialty kunai he had requested.

"So, the chuunin exams huh?" Tsunade asked as the two females had a snack of dango together.

"What, does it take you back?" Yuzuki teased.

"Shut up you brat," Tsunade huffed, and the laughter from the dirty blonde did nothing to quell her temper, "I'm not that old."

"Right, right, you're only as old as you feel," Yuzuki chuckled as she bit into her dango, "I may look young but some days I feel ancient."

"You look it too."

The blonde couldn't help but snort at the look on the girl's face. It had been so long since someone had talked to her without acting like she was going to explode at them. Even her assistant acted as such, but this girl was either stupid or completely unafraid. She ate her dango and wished for some sake to have with the sweet treat.

"You worried about the exams?" She asked.

"A little bit, but I feel as though as long as I do my best the people I care about will be proud of me," Yuzuki replied with a smile.

Tsunade stared at the girl for a few seconds before finishing off her dango. She flicked the stick towards the girl and she easily moved back to dodge it. That was the perks of training with a senbon user who had stopped holding back.

"Don't go acting so confident, brat," Tsunade warned her.

"I'm not, my first match is against my cousin," Yuzuki informed her and the worried expression on her face caused the other blonde to frown, "I don't want to hurt her, but I'm going to have to."

"She's one of these people you care about, isn't she?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah, but there's something else going on in the background of the exams that we genin will have to be ready for," At the serious expression on the girls face Tsunade wondered what it was, "I'm not permitted to tell anyone that isn't inside the village, so I apologize that I can't inform you."

"It's not like I care," Tsunade waved her hand.

"You say that, but you do," Yuzuki said and that got the older woman to pause, "I'm like that as well, saying things to make people believe I couldn't care less about the world around me."

Tsunade watched as the girl finished her dango before standing up. She sent the older woman a tiny smile and stretched. Her hands ended up in the pockets of her pants as she turned to the woman.

"That's something I don't want to do anymore."

She gave the sannin a wave before heading off to meet with Genma to see what she was going to be learning before they left. Tsunade watched her go with wide eyes before a smirk appeared on her face. That was someone who wanted to change, huh? She was an interesting brat.

"Genma, what am I doing today?" Yuzuki asked as she appeared next to the taller man's elbow.

"Don't sneak up on people," He warned her with a slight sigh, "You might get hit…how'd you end up so bruised and scuffed up?"

"Don't worry about it," She told him before fixing him with a look, "What am I doing?"

"The kunai are finally finished, I'm going to teach you the seal process," He informed her, "Then how to perform the jutsu."

"Okay."

That was it, an okay? He was expecting a bit more out of her from that. He looked down at her as she walked next to him, a thoughtful expression on her face. Ah, there it was. She was thinking again, probably about the news of the pictures that Lupa promised her. They were taking a while making a small shrine for her to add more pictures to if she lost anyone else.

"I can't wait to eat that food you were talking about," He told her.

"_Patience is a virtue_," She told him with a slight smile.

"Not something you always have in spades, you get bored during shogi and your mind starts to wander," He told her, and she gave him a slight glare.

They reached their training area and he noted all the craters in the area, some from her and another from a chakra that he could only guess was Tsunade's. She really was the kind of person that wormed their way into your heart and just stayed there with a frown on their face. He had her sit down and reached into his pouch for a scroll that had his seal on it, but not with chakra ink.

"This is the seal that the protection squad uses," He informed her, "The seal you'll be using is one of your own, the Yondaime had his own and it's not one that you could use without having the same chakra nature."

"Right, so I need to figure out a seal that will summon me, or just open up a pathway that I can use?" She asked him in a way to clarify what he meant.

"You need to open up your own pathway," He informed her, "Yondaime-sama used the character 'Ai' for his pathway, but never told anyone the reasoning behind it."

Smart man. Yuzuki started to find some respect for the deceased hokage. She stared at the scroll and thought back to the words that Genma told her. She grabbed a scroll of her own and took out a plain pen. With a quick thought she scribbled down the seal she wanted to use. Lightening, moon, and ocean. The type of nature she controlled plus the move that Hayate had taught her.

"Would this work?" She asked.

"Yeah, that could possibly work," Genma nodded.

"You'll need to pour your chakra into some ink to make it able to summon you," He informed her as he pulled out a brush and bottle of ink, "It requires some blood as well, I'm sure Yuna-san taught you how to pour chakra into ink."

"Yeah," She nodded as she accepted the ink and brush, "Should I do it on one just to make sure it works?"

He gave her a lazy grin and she gave a light chuckle. Of course, that's what he wanted her to do. She pricked her finger and added it to the ink before picking up the brush. She knew the reason why chakra control was key in Fuinjutsu, if one messed up the amount of chakra added to a seal then it could be problematic. She concentrated while writing down the kanji she had picked out and sealed the seal with the correct hand signs that were on the scroll Genma had.

"Did you create the scroll?" She asked him.

"Yes, I do have to destroy it after this," He informed her.

"Right, show me the next step," She said with a slight smile.

He couldn't help but gain a slightly sadistic grin. He tossed the kunai near a tree and had her form the hand sign to summon herself. She pushed the chakra through and not even five minutes later he heard her losing her lunch. He couldn't help the light chuckle from passing through his lips.

It was just like when he had first used it. He hadn't been able to eat for the rest of the day. He had wondered just how many times the Yondaime had used it to not even be bothered by it anymore. The man was notorious for using it without hand signs, so he had to have used it quite a bit. Was he trying to make a mini-yellow flash? No, her hair was completely different from the man, but she needed the speed.

"I hate you, Genma," She informed him from her spot on the ground, "This is why Hayate is my favorite!"

"That's why you call me dad," He told her.

He got a very grumbled curse and snickered to himself. He was such a demon that he made her finish the other kunai, and then practice with them. She spent the next thirty minutes using it, flashing around the clearing, before collapsing while holding her stomach. She looked mutinous at him.

"Right I think we're done for the day."

"You are truly evil."

"Keep that up and you'll have to train with it all day tomorrow."

She wisely kept quiet after that, but little did she know he would still do that.


	19. Chapter 19

**The review system is acting up on the website again. A part of me wants to move this fic to archive of our own and continue it there but I don't want to honestly. Too much of a hassle. Hayate is losing in the poll by like one point, I keep hoping he'll win because there's not enough love for him. If I had waited to make the poll now it would've been Hayate winning. But still, that's life yeah. Also the Sasuke Vs Naruto fight is basically Anakin vs Obi-wan except Anakin is the one who has the high ground.**

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19

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Hayate had just been minding his own business when something slammed into him from behind. Arms wrapped around his middle and the fact that they were clad in dusty blue cloth let him know immediately who it wasn't and stopped him from throwing them. He looked behind him to see Yuzuki. She had her face hidden in his back, and he wondered just what she went through with Genma.

"Remember how I called you an Oni?" She asked him, not even looking up at him.

"I do," He confirmed.

"You aren't half as bad as Genma," She informed him.

Just what the _hell_ did Genma put her through? She looked up at him and he noted the senbon. He was starting to think letting her leave with him for a month was the worst idea he had ever had. He was better off leaving her with Anko. He brought a hand up and placed it on her head, damn the odd position it put him in.

"What'd he do?" He asked.

"I made her practice the Hiraishin for an entire day," Genma answered and Yuzuki gripped onto Hayate even tighter, "She almost ran here to get away."

Judging by the expression on the man's face, he was amused by her actions. She glared at him from her position around Hayate and the jonin sighed. She did look a bit pale compared to how she usually was. How many times did she drop from chakra exhaustion only to be woken up to continue the next day? She reached out with his senses and raised a brow. Genma had her deepen her reserves until it was close to theirs. He had prepared her for war by getting them that full.

"What are you doing back so early?" Hayate asked them.

"I wanted her to be here a day before to get a spar in with you," Genma told him, "Also, restaurant food was starting to get to both of us."

"You can let me go now," Hayate informed Yuzuki in an amused tone.

"Right, sorry," She apologized, quickly releasing him, and putting her hands into her pockets.

"You still have no style, Yuzuki," Ino's voice rang out and the two jonin let the preteen go and greet her cousin.

"You know me, no fashionable bone in my body," She admitted, "I think I go for comfort over anything."

"Every girl needs a little black dress." Ino winked.

"She doesn't," Genma said as he walked up, "She can't date until she's thirty."

Genma watched as Yuzuki slowly turned to him with a small smile. The glint in her eyes showed exactly what she thought of that proclamation. She was well beyond thirty, even if she was letting that life go. He smiled back at her and that promised a harsh training segment.

"I'm still crotch level," She informed him in a sweet tone, "I'm going to use that for as long as I can."

"Hearing that without context sounds really weird, Yuzuki." Ino informed her.

"She once informed me that she'd fight by hitting people in the crotch with her juken," Genma explained.

"This is why no one says anything to you," Hayate informed him.

Genma smirked at that and looked to the side. Ino got a wave from Yuzuki before the other girl was pulled away. Whatever training she was going to do seemed important. There would be plenty of time to mess with her after the exams.

"Let's see what you learned," Hayate said, "This will be a two on one spar."

"Right," Yuzuki nodded.

"Begin."

His eyes widened as she seemed to flicker out of existence. She hadn't done the shunshin, so a genjutsu. He easily dispersed it and stepped out of the way of a juken strike to the shoulder. He grabbed her wrist and she twisted in his grip to dodge Genma's attack. She brought a leg down on his head and he substituted himself.

She tossed something behind her and vanished just as Genma brought a kunai down. She knew that she wasn't going to win against the two of them, but holding her own against them was good enough for her. She brought her hands together for an auditory genjutsu and took their hearing away. Genma smirked at the sensation of pure silence. It wasn't until he heard something that he was bothered.

Was that footsteps?

He brought his hands together to cancel the genjutsu but paused when he had to dodge a hit from Hayate. Oh, he loved his kid. She had layered her genjutsu to have them fight against one another. Hayate brought his hand up and canceled the genjutsu just as a juken to his back hit him.

He had to curse Genma for teaching her genjutsu. He landed on the ground and let out a harsh sounding breath. Yuzuki wanted to check on him but ducked a hit from Genma. Her tachi came out and she blocked a swipe to the head from a kunai. Her tanto did as well when another came towards her stomach.

"Stealth is your real skill," Genma complimented her, "I didn't think you'd get Hayate down."

She didn't respond and she stopped holding the kunai near her stomach back. She used his own momentum against him as she jumped over him to dodge. Hayate watched an all out taijutsu battle between the two. He had to cover his face at one point due to a crater being formed by Yuzuki. Just when did she perfect that jutsu?

Genma still won in the end, a senbon to the knee was enough to take her down. He sat on her back and held a kunai to her head. She was breathing so hard he could hear it from his spot on the ground. Just what had changed during that month? It was like she had gone on a soul-searching journey and figured something out.

"Now we can go get food," Genma said as he got off her back.

"Let me unblock his tenketsu points," She huffed as she got off the floor and onto her feet.

He gave her a wave as he went to see where she had thrown the three-pronged kunai. Hayate was welcomed to a hand on his back and a quick pulse of chakra. He felt his own fill his system before he rolled over. He needed a few seconds to completely digest what he had just learned. With a month of hard training she had grown so much.

"Are you okay?" She asked him and he met her eyes at that.

They were warm, and showed genuine concern. He brought a hand up and gently pat her head. She gave him a look at that before a relieved smile appeared on her face. It seemed as though she had been more worried about him then she let on. She knew that he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry. He had been in the hospital the last time she saw him.

"I'm not made of glass you know," He informed her.

"Last time I saw you, you were in the hospital," She informed him and she ran a hand through her lose hair, "It's hard not to worry after that being the last time I saw you."

He didn't think she cared about him that much, then again she did hit him in the head when he asked that favor. She held a hand out to him and he accepted it. She easily pulled him to his feet, and he noticed the dead tired expression that slowly appeared on her face. She needed sleep.

"Nice area to toss this to," Genma said as he emerged from the nearby trees, tossing the kunai towards her, "It allowed you to survey us and cast those genjutsu."

"A little bit of stealth never killed anybody," She informed him as she caught her kunai with a finger, "Well, it actually did, but I digress."

It went into her kunai pouch and the group went to the market to get something to fill the fridge in Yuzuki's home. Hayate decided to stay the night, though Genma called the guest room, and she'd have to find the futon so he'd have somewhere to sleep. He watched as she found what she needed to make saba misoni for dinner, and some ground up beef for dinner after the exam was over.

"What happened when you were training?" He finally asked.

"I realized that Sakura might've been right about me," She quietly admitted as she looked at the produce and used her nose to find the freshest ones.

He paused in his actions of reaching for a package of dried bonito and stared at her. She had said that in such a nonchalant way. He grabbed the package and placed it into her basket before gently removing it from her grasp. She looked at him in surprise before grabbing the mushrooms and seasonings she needed. He stayed close to her while they finished the shopping, with Genma appearing with different items to add. He had brought drinks and snacks.

"You making a spectators lunch?" Yuzuki asked him in amusement.

"Well, we have to eat as well," He teased, "Plus, they might come in handy."

"Ah."

Hayate wondered about that. Just how deadly were chips going to be against enemy nin? Well, very if they hit the eyes. He had a feeling that the two had trained so much over stealth attacks that he needed to watch his back when he trained against his female student. He looked down at her as Genma left them once again to get celebratory sake, and she grabbed some heavy cream to make some ice cream. He wondered if it was going to be matcha flavored, she had some powder at her home. He was excited to have some of her cooking.

"Thank you come again," The cashier told them before they left the store.

Storage scrolls, she knew how to create storage seals. They really dove headfirst into training during that month. He rubbed the back of his head in a slightly sheepish manner before looking towards the two next to him. Genma was talking about how he wanted his kid to wipe the floor with the competition of the chuunin exams.

"Stop trying to get me killed goddamn it!" She hissed at him as she jabbed him in the side.

Hayate let out a low snort at that as they finally reached her house. She huffed angrily and removed her sandals before heading into the kitchen to put everything away. Genma moved to the living room to stay out of the path of her ire, simply because that jab had hurt quite a bit. She had put chakra into that jab

Hayate rolled his eyes at the man and went into the kitchen to try and be of some help. Pale eyes looked at him as he entered before returning to the fridge. She was crouched next to it putting things away in a meticulous fashion that was completely her. That hadn't changed, there was still that part of her that was conditioned to be neat.

"Need any help?" He asked.

"Could you start a pot of tea?"

He nodded and did so. It was domestic as shit, those were typically Genma's words when referring to life in her home, and he welcomed it. Few shinobi allowed their homes to be a peaceful place, they brought their work into the home. A curse brought him out of his thoughts.

"Ah, those are the last of my baby teeth to fall out," She muttered as she brought a towel into her bleeding mouth, "Seriously, I almost swallowed them."

She had something in her hand, and he blinked at the appearance of her canines. Those sometimes were the last to fall out, but to have them fall out so late was strange for someone her age. The fact that she just tossed her teeth was even more so. She loses them and then tosses them into the trash, sounded about right.

"I'll finish putting everything away," he told her as he began to move her out of the kitchen, "You need to stop the bleeding."

She gave him a nod and headed into the living room to find something to do while she had a towel in her mouth. Genma let out a loud snort at the sight of her with a towel in her mouth. The only thing stopping him from making a wise crack about looking like one of her summons was the large book that was in her hand. She knew it too, by the smirk on her face.

"Don't make me tell Hayate your being mean to me," he threatened.

She gave a pause at that and contemplated if he was telling the truth. If he told Hayate, the younger man would be greatly amused while she would be a bit embarrassed. She couldn't believe Genma sometimes. The blackmail that he gathered was crazy, and a bit impressive.

She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like _dick_, though it was hard to make out due to the towel. She didn't say anything else as she sat down on the couch and brought her feet up. He watched as she became a small ball on the couch and read the large tome. He read the title and his lips quirked upwards, she had found a sci-fi author that went by the name of Perry. He almost wanted to tell her to start writing books about the movies and tv shows she had watched in her previous life; she'd make a fortune doing so.

She'd probably make more money than Jiraiya, who had created Make out Paradise. That'd be a lot of zeros. He turned towards her and she slowly looked at him. The expression on her face was taken aback when she saw the glint in his eyes.

"Have you ever thought about publishing the stories of the films and shows you used to watch?" He asked her.

"Well yeah, but I figured that it was plagiarism and stealing," She replied with a slight frown, "Something about that didn't sit right with me."

He nodded his understanding and dropped the subject. He grabbed a book from her shelves and immersed himself in some fantasy novel. There was a slight frown on her face as she tried to think back to a story that she knew people would like. _The Lord of The Rings_, that would be popular. Even in a ninja village that story would be popular. She shook her head and went back to reading about a carriage that traveled through time with it being controlled by a ninja by the name of Haruka. It reminded her of _Doctor Who_, but was missing the Daleks.

It wasn't her favorite due to the fact she was missing those little creatures. She adored the Daleks, much to Rose's amusement. Her niece had found it hilarious that she only watched the series for the villains that always screamed.

"Still bleeding?" Hayate asked as he brought out the tea.

She felt around her mouth before giving a nod. She was used to the taste of blood; it didn't mean that she liked it. She couldn't believe that she lost her canines at the exact same time, she narrowed her eyes in slight thought. Could it have something to do with the Okami? She removed one of the edges of the towel and put her thumb against her still bleeding gums.

"Wait, what are you-" Genma began to ask.

But the appearance of Yosuke startled the man. The white wolf stared at the jonin with an unimpressed gaze before looking towards Yuzuki. She smiled at the summons and her jumped up to sit with her on the couch.

"What's wrong, pup?" Yosuke asked.

"Her canines fell out at the exact same time," Hayate informed the wolf.

"Oh, that might be due to Lupa-hime," Yosuke told them, "She really likes the pup more than her father, I was supposed to bring an okami that stayed by her side but its still a bit too young."

"It's not hard to like her," Genma said.

"She does scratch the right area," Yosuke agreed and closed his eyes when she began to scratch him behind the ears.

She had just proved him right. Hayate watched as she contemplated the tea he brought and noticed the slight cringe on her face. She didn't feel like drinking her own blood at the moment. She gave a closed mouth yawn and Yosuke moved closer to her. He could tell she was starting to fall asleep; she was relaxed around the two men to let her body tell her its needs.

The book in her grasp fell to the ground and Genma let out a quiet snort. He had been waiting for her to fall asleep. Hayate pulled down the blanket, which hung on the back of the sofa as decoration, and placed it over her and the summons. Both were sleeping peacefully. He removed her hitai-ate and placed it on the coffee table.

"She's been using so much chakra that her body just keeps shutting down like that," Genma informed him as he closed his book, "At least she'll be well rested for tomorrow."

"How hard did you train her?" Hayate asked.

"A whole month of pure training with small breaks in between," Genma answered, "She also met Tsunade-sama and the woman seemed to become a bit fond of her."

"You let a Sannin beat her?"

"She seemed to crack down hard after the first time."

"What kind of lesson were you trying to teach her?"

"Not to go too far."

Hayate didn't have a response to that, he knew what he was mentioning. She needed the lesson of not allowing an ego to grow out of control. She had grown one out of nowhere and it seemed as though she had been significantly taken down a peg.

"It's hard to see past the face and to the woman trapped inside," Genma commented, "But even she has trouble sometimes, she thinks she's an adult but she's still physically a child."

"How'd you break her from that kind of thinking?" Hayate questioned.

"A giant Okami did, I only told her to let go."

"Giant? How big?"

"Bigger than a house, probably as big as the Kyuubi if not a bit smaller."

"She could summon that?"

Genma gave a nod and Hayate looked towards the sleeping kid with a proud smile. Genma grabbed his tea and went into the kitchen to fix them a small dinner, he was a bit sad they wouldn't get to eat her cooking but she had plenty of ingredients for him to make something small. He went with Onigiri covered in bonito flakes. It was simple and fast.

"I think you've learned quite a bit," Hayate quietly informed the sleeping Yuzuki, "But Lupa-Hime and Genma are right, you need to let go."

He wouldn't blame her, and Genma wouldn't as well. She seemed to grow a bit fitful in her sleep and he brought a hand down to gently rest on her head. She calmed a bit and nuzzled into Yosuke like he was a stuffed animal. The Okami summon didn't seem to care much and simply nuzzled back. It was cute, and he hated that that was his first thought.

"Leave her be, she'll calm down a bit more in her sleep," Genma told him, "She gets fitful and then relaxes."

"She doesn't have nightmares anymore?" He asked in surprise.

"She had one the whole month, and it was enough to keep her up the entire night," Genma answered, "It was apparently about the wonders of childbirth."

"She had a kid?" He blinked.

"No, her brother's kid," Genma clarified, "She was present for her niece being born, apparently the woman took one look at her kid and decided to give up any rights to her."

He couldn't imagine doing that to a child. Children were precious to shinobi, even though they trained them to be weapons from such an early age, and to do something like that was horrible. He couldn't help but think that Hyuuga Tsuki would've done the same thing if she could. Yuna had been more forthcoming with the information about his sister. Truly heartless was how he described her, even as a child she had been. That was why he was worried about his niece following that same path.

When she saved and found his cat, he felt relieved that she wasn't like her mother. She truly was her own person, even if she did struggle trying to figure out who she was. He had wanted her to be happy, something shared by her cousins and himself.

"Let's eat," Genma grinned.

Hayate rolled his eyes at the fact that the subject had been changed. Leave it to Genma to change it as quickly as he did. He followed the taller man into the kitchen and they both ate. There was some saved for Yuzuki when she finally woke up, but they both retired for the night. Genma in the guest room, while he took the comfortable chair that was in the living room.

She only woke up when Yosuke returned to the Okami dimension. She had quickly fallen back asleep afterwards.


	20. Chapter 20

**This won't be a polyromance story, I'm not a big fan of such stories myself but don't care about them in real life as long as all parties are happy. So, it's just a two-person relationship for this story! Someone told me that I should do away with the poll and just write a Hayate/OC story since that's where it seems to be heading. I might give it some more time before fully deciding, I'm not the best at that and even my parents say I'm a bit flighty sometimes. In the future I might be open to writing another fic as a Kakashi/Oc story, but it's on the ropes.**

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20

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"Remember to try and alert all the other genin taking the exam with you," Genma told Yuzuki as they finished breakfast.

"Right, I'll let them know that Oto and Suna are planning something and to not waste much chakra," She nodded, a soft yawn escaped her and he grinned at the gaping holes where her canines had been.

She had her teeth taken away by a summons who liked her. He wondered if that meant she was going to end up with fangs like the Inuzuka. He'd laugh his ass off if she did. She wasn't the biggest fan of the Inuzuka clan.

"Are you going to wear something that fits?" Hayate asked her upon noticing that her clothes were small on her once again.

"I...I don't have the time to make something that fights right," She mumbled, "I wasn't expecting to grow again, but I am going to change to whatever is the least smallest."

She got down from her chair and headed up the stairs to her room. Her foot fall completely silent. When she came back down, her tachi on her back with her tanto situated in the lower back, wearing a sleeveless shirt with a pair of dark pants. She was winding some bandages around her arms to protect them when he walked over and helped her finish wrapping them. She seemed ready for the chuunin exams, even if there was a nervous air about her.

"Let's get going then," He told her.

"Are you still the proctor?" She asked as the three of them headed to the stadium.

"No, Hokage-sama decided that I have an emotional attachment to you that would create bias," He replied, "Genma is similar as well, I think it's Haru, he was one of the jonin proctors of the first exam."

"Huh, was he the guy with the glasses?" She asked.

He nodded and she put her hands into her pockets. She felt guilty that she hadn't given Hinata flowers before she left, but there was such a rush for her to leave the village. She also doubted that Hiashi would've let her in. He truly was the best example of a Hyuuga.

"Good luck," Genma told her as he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, don't hurt Ino too much," Hayate warned her, "Try to restrain yourself a bit."

"I was going to," She told him with a slightly worried smile.

She waved to them before heading into the stadium and standing next to Ino and Shikamaru. Naruto came in a bit late, but the Chuunin who was proctoring didn't seem to care that much as he sighed. He watched as the three genin looked around for the Oto-nin that was supposed to be fighting in the exams.

"You three look alive," Haru told them, "You guys are the main stars of this tournament so don't disappoint the customers."

Yuzuki would've loved to have informed him that he sounded like he was about to sell them, but that was exactly what they were doing. She had a feeling the black market would've loved this world. She scanned the stands for anyone she knew, Choji was sitting with Sakura with a bag of chips and she couldn't help but be amused by the boy. Him and Genma were both eating during the tournament. Speaking of Genma, she caught his eye and he gave her a serious look as Hayate opened a drink they had brought. It really was a spectacle and they were the main attraction.

Sakura stared down at the group of Genin in the arena and winced at the phantom feeling of a kick to her stomach as she looked at the dirty blonde. She narrowed her eyes and noted that the other girl's hair was lighter than it had been. How that had happened she didn't know, nor did she really care. Those pale eyes looked at her and she glared. She was slightly taken aback by the slightly apologetic expression the other girl had, but steeled herself. She got a rude look in response and, somewhere in her mind, she made the taller girl her rival in everything. She was going into torture and interrogation, fine so would she! She was going to show everyone that she could beat the other girl in whatever she did. She was going to show that she was just as good as a kunoichi! She was going to make Sasuke notice her!

Yuzuki couldn't help but wonder why she had the sudden feeling that she now had a rival, and said rival was thinking about Sasuke of all people. She made a face and Ino looked at her trying to figure out what the other girl was thinking. She felt her body freeze upon noticing the look that Gaara was giving the Kazekage. It held such malice that her body started to shake without her realizing it.

"Don't worry," Yuzuki quietly mumbled to her and she slowly looked towards her, "Just stay calm and think rationally."

"Easy for you to say," Ino hissed at her, "And what the hell are you wearing?"

"I grew during my month away, I don't have anything that fits correctly," She hissed back, "I spent everyday training."

"We need to go shopping after these exams, you need something with style."

"Remember, Dad said no to the little black dress."

"Did you just…"

"You heard nothing, Ino."

Ino stared at the embarrassed girl before letting out a soft sound of amusement. That was her dad, huh? No wonder he had said such things about dating till she was thirty. She smirked at the other girl and watched as different emotions passed before she became neutral. Pale eyes were looking at their leader and she joined them.

"Thank you all for coming to Konoha's chuunin selection exam!" The Sandaime announced, "We will now start the main tournament matches between the nine participants who made it through the preliminaries, so please stay and watch until the end!"

"Nine?" Ino asked, "What happened to Dosu?"

"He probably chickened out." Naruto grinned.

"Quiet, I want you all to look at something before the matches begin," Haru huffed, as he held up a piece of paper to them.

All the matches were the same except Shikamaru had to simply fight Temari. It made sense and everyone nodded before Naruto realized something. Sasuke was missing.

"Hey, what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"If he shows up by the time of his match he'll still be able to participate," Haru replied, "If not, then he's automatically disqualified."

Naruto nodded in understanding and Haru sighed at the group. He studied them and noted that two of the suna nins seemed a bit nervous about something while the third seemed downright murderous. He looked at the Konoha nin and noticed that there was determination there, but one of them seemed just as nervous as the suna nins. She was keeping an eye out on the area around them.

"All right you lot, this is the final test," He informed them, "The arena is different by the rules are the same as they were in the preliminaries, you fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat, if I determine a fight is over I _will_ step in and stop it, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Three of the genin replied.

Well, there was a group that was probably going to get promoted. A Nara and two Yamanakas. What a fun match up. He rubbed the back of his head and pointed towards the waiting room.

"Unless you are Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, head up to the waiting room," He ordered.

Th group of genin broke up and Ino felt a hand on her shoulder as Yuzuki leaned forward to whisper in her ear. Ino slowed her walk a bit and frowned. Her cousin typically strayed away from human contact, which she was totally going to change.

"Suna and Oto are panning an attack, save as much chakra as you can," Yuzuki quickly murmured in her ear, "Don't say anything to anyone and don't react to them, I'm giving the same message to Shino and Shikamaru."

"And not Naruto?" Ino softly asked.

"As much as I adore him, no," Yuzuki answered, "He'd react to them and yell, not telling him has the best outcome."

"Right, who will win our fight?" Ino questioned.

"We'll see," Yuzuki told her, "I don't want to be treated any differently, and I want this to be a serious test for both of us."

"Ah you Ume," Ino huffed.

"If I'm an Ume you're a bellflower."

Ino blinked at that before cackling at the gap filled smile sent her way. Her cousin sent her a look with pink tinged cheeks. Honestly, the blonde was touched that her cousin thought she was a flower that signified endless love and honesty. It was sweet.

"I hope that others can see your sweet side more often." Ino honesty told her.

Yuzuki's smile turned small as they finally entered the waiting area. Shikamaru jumped when an arm was put on his shoulder. He turned to see Yuzuki standing next to him. He hadn't even heard her.

"Oto and Suna are planning something, save your chakra and don't react to them any differently than you originally planned to," She muttered to him, she noticed a small bug on his shoulder and looked to Shino.

She got a nod from the Aburame and she moved away from the Nara. She wondered why they made everything so far away, well a part of her knew it was because they wanted the spectators to be safe, but it did make things almost impossible to hear. Granted it didn't help that they had yet to speak.

"Looks like you have something to say," Neji said.

"I told you before," Naruto said with a glare, "You're going down."

"He's so lame," Ino huffed and Yuzuki shook her head in disbelief.

"Now the first fight will begin," Haru announced.

"That is what makes this worthwhile," Neji said with a smirk, "It'll be fun to watch you fall apart upon discovering reality."

"Stop all the blabbering and fight already!" Naruto yelled at him.

"I don't think Neji knows that Naruto defies the laws of reality," Yuzuki stated and all the genin in the area looked at her, "What, have you ever been submitted to one of his speeches? He's very charismatic when he wants to be."

"I don't think he realizes that he _is _charismatic," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Let's not tell him," All the Konoha genin agreed simultaneously.

"He might lose that, and it'll take him a long way," She added.

It went quiet after that as they waited for one of the two boys to make the first move. Neji had already activated his byakugan, and now they waited to see what Naruto did. He created clones, Yuzuki wondered if he had learned anything in the month that they got to train. Then again, those clones seemed to be made from more chakra than usual. It was like he learned how to correctly disperse his chakra.

"But in the end there is only one true body," Neji informed him, "A clone will not work."

"That may be true, but even so," Ino listened to Shikamaru and Yuzuki commentate, this came from the brunette.

"Naruto has an insane amount of chakra, even if the tenketsu points were to be blocked he could overpower them and reopen them," Yuzuki stated, "He's a formidable opponent to fight as a Hyuuga."

"And as a Yamanaka?"

"He'd be the best, but I wouldn't want to go into his mind."

"Afraid of what you'd see?"

"It'd be ramen, nothing but ramen."

Ino couldn't help but snort at that. Her eyes widened as Naruto charged with his clones, only to have each one destroyed by Neji. Carefully placed kicks and hits were the way to do so. Even if the blonde hadn't gone for a full-frontal attack, he would've been taken out. She couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to figure out Neji's attacks.

"Is he an idiot or a genius?" Ino quietly asked Yuzuki.

"I've been asking that myself for a while," She admitted, "He acts like an idiot, but I don't think that he is."

"It's impossible for someone like you to become hokage," Neji informed Naruto, "Talent is decoded at your birth, you could say that everything is decoded when a person is born."

"Who the hell are you decided things like that?" Naruto questioned.

"Then are you saying that anyone can become hokage through hard work?" Neji questioned, "Only a handful of shinobi are chosen as hokage. Why don't you take a close look at reality, those that become hokage are born into that destiny and people must live within the unchangeable flow the only destiny that everyone shares is death."

"What's wrong?" Ino asked upon seeing her cousin's face.

"He's such a hypocrite."

They didn't know what she meant by that. Yuzuki did, she knew that Neji was constantly trying to change. He was constantly working harder to strengthen his byakugan and increase his abilities, yet here he was trying to say that only those who were predestined to be amazing would be amazing. Did he forget about his incredible teammate Lee? Lee had been extraordinary during his fight with Gaara, but that had been from his hard work.

"I'm not good at giving up!" Naruto informed Neji as he created an army of clones.

"I'm not stupid, I've already seen through your attack pattern," Neji huffed.

"I told you to stop automatically deciding things!"

"How many clones can he create?" Ino questioned.

"Like I said, he defies the Kami." Yuzuki joked.

No one responded to that as the army of Naruto's sprinted towards Neji. It caused the Hyuuga some trouble, seeing as he couldn't dodge all of them. He quickly looked through the crowd of orange and tried to spot the real one. He smirked when he did and rushed towards it.

"Shit he blocked one of his tenketsu points," Yuzuki quietly cursed.

"Fearing having your points pressed, one body is doing the least amount of attacking," Neji informed the blonde, "The more you attack the clearer it becomes that you're the real one."

Naruto coughed up blood and all the genin watching, minus Gaara, winced at the sight. He was breathing so heavily that they could easily hear it from the waiting room. Neji backed up from the other boy with a blank expression.

"This is why I told you it was useless." Neji said.

"That's why, I told you to stop automatically deciding things," Naruto grinned before he turned into a puff of smoke.

Ino and Yuzuki cheered in unison. The entire crowd burst into applause at the sight. Shikamaru looked annoyed at the amount of sound.

"No way," Neji said as he turned to see two Naruto's nearing him.

"I'm coming at you with everything I have prepare to die!" Naruto yelled at the taller boy.

Only to be stopped by the eight trigrams palms revolving heaven. He had learned the rotation by himself? Yuzuki couldn't help but be a bit amazed at his genius, she thought that she had been clever enough to work through the main house holds jutsus, but here there was another. She couldn't blame him; it was wrong to keep jutsus to one branch of the family and stop others from being able to protect themselves. She looked towards the hurt blonde and frowned slightly.

"You thought you had won?" Neji questioned.

"What was that?" Ino questioned, "His punch should've connected."

"That was a main house jutsu, he figured them out as well," Yuzuki answered and Ino watched a bead of sweat go down her face.

"It's over, you are within the field of my hakke," Neji informed Naruto before he slid into the stance for the eight trigrams sixty-four palms.

"Oh."

"What do you mean oh?" Ino asked Yuzuki before she realized what she meant after the first hit, "Oh."

Naruto had been completely decimated by the sixty-four palms. He didn't get up after falling onto the ground. Well, it didn't take him long to slowly get to his knees. Neji didn't stop insulting Naruto, even as he stood close to victory. That was why Yuzuki couldn't see him being promoted. She couldn't see herself promoted either after her actions during the preliminaries.

"Come one, get up Naruto," Yuzuki quietly urged.

She was pleasantly surprised when Naruto stood to his feet, he was shaking and in obvious pain, but he was up. Ino couldn't help the grin on her face at such a feat. How was she supposed to know that he was amazing?

"I told you, I'm not good at giving up." Naruto said.

"Quit already continuing won't change anything, I don't have a grudge against you," Neji informed him.

"I do!" Naruto shouted at him.

"What do you mean?" Neji sounded genuinely confused.

"If you're this strong, and you have those eyes that can see everything, then why'd you attack Hinata who was trying so hard?" Naruto questioned him.

"That's none of your business." Neji hissed.

"Insulting Hinata and deciding she's a loser, I don't care what happened between the two families but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers," Naruto continued, "I will never forgive you."

"All right, if you're going to go that far, then I'll tell you," Neji sighed, "The Hyuuga's destiny of hatred."

Yuzuki didn't say anything as Shikamaru looked at her when the caged bird seal was shown and the history between the branch and main family was made public. She couldn't help but look down at her hands as a way to ignore things she already knew. She couldn't help but wonder how much the proctor was getting paid to listen to a bunch of twelve- and thirteen-year old's monologue. She hoped it was quite a bit, she'd feel bad if it wasn't.

"You explained that far faster than he did." Ino told Yuzuki in a quiet voice after Neji finished his story.

"I don't know how much it hurt that your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake!" Naruto yelled at him.

"You're hopeless," Neji sighed.

He ran forward and hit Naruto one last time before turning towards Haru. Said man simply raised a brow at the brunette. He wasn't a mind reader. Those were in the waiting room.

"It's over, proctor." Neji said.

"Don't you dare run away," Naruto ground out, "I don't go back on my word."

"I've heard that before," Neji sneered.

"There's no way that I'd lose to a coward like you," Naruto informed him.

"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing…people are born burdened with a destiny that they cannot oppose," Neji said before he angrily pointed at the blonde, "Someone like you could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!"

Naruto stayed quiet at that and Yuzuki gave him a sad look. He could, oh could he understand. Neji could never understand what it was like to be so alone, to never have someone look at you without hatred. She felt bad for the blonde, he never asked for it.

"I can, and so what?" Naruto questioned with a tired grin, "Stop acting so cool, you're not the only special person in the world…Hinata's suffered as much as you, she may be a member of the main family but no one ever acknowledges that she's trying her best…The branch family is supposed to protect the main family, yet doing that to Hinata is one hell of an example of trying to disobey your destiny with all your might."

"Your sixty-four opening points are closed; you won't be able to use chakra for a while how can you fight?" Neji questioned, "In the end you and Hinata-sama are the same."

"Would you shut up!" Naruto shouted at him, "Stop acting like you know everyone's destiny, because I'm definitely going to defeat you and prove you wrong!"

Naruto closed his eyes as Neji turned towards Haru and informed him that he was going in for the kill and to stop him if he didn't want that. The jonin simply sighed in response and shrugged. They ignored the blonde who was trying to build chakra. Yuzuki felt a shiver go down her spine at the familiar feel of the chakra he was able to build.

"Why do you go against your destiny so much?" Neji finally asked.

"Because I was called a loser." Naruto informed him.

Yuzuki smirked at the Kyuubi chakra filled Naruto's system and helped to unblock the tenketsu points. Neji had no clue how he was able to do so and activated his byakugan he backed away in slight fear as he saw what she had during wave. The red chakra was dark and leaked killing intent, and this time she noticed the nine tendrils of it that create tails around Naruto.

"Here I come." Naruto said.

The blonde took off and attacked Neji with everything he had, even weapons. Ino was surprised when Yuzuki pulled her back from the viewing area when the two collided. Dust was kicked up and so did shrapnel from the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Ino questioned, "Which crater is Naruto?"

Neji climbed out of one and they got their answer. He was about to say something when the ground under him erupted and he got an uppercut to his jaw. He was out for the count due to such a hit. The arena was silent for a few seconds before a single clap rang out and others followed.

"Winner of the first match, Uzumaki Naruto," Haru announced, he turned to Neji and quietly said something.

"Holy shit, he won…" Ino said as she sighed.

"I had assumed he was a lameass-type like me," Shikamaru said as he let out a slight sigh.

"Lameass-type?" Shino questioned.

"Don't worry about it," Yuzuki informed him, "He just means lazy."

Naruto rejoined them as Neji was carted off to the hospital. Ino and Yuzuki shared a look as they realized that it was their fight next, they needed to put on a good show. Both looked a bit uncomfortable to fight one another. They weren't going to move until Haru called them down.

"Next match is between Yamanaka Ino and Yamanaka Yuzuki." Haru announced.

"Yikes," Shikamaru huffed, "I can't wish either of you luck without playing favorites."

"It's cool, don't worry about it," Yuzuki laughed, "Besides Ino's your teammate, it'd be weird if you didn't cheer her on."

The two Yamanaka's headed down to the arena below by jumping over the railing. Haru didn't even react to them as they took their stances on the broken ground. Ino and Yuzuki sized each other up and Ino felt as though she wasn't prepared as she stared at the muscular arms of her cousin. No wonder the other girl always wore long sleeves, she'd have to put her in a turtleneck to see how they'd look. She was getting off topic.

"You two have anything to say?" he asked them.

"Good luck, Ino," Yuzuki smiled at her cousin.

"Right, may the best Yamanaka win," Ino smiled back.

"We're ready." The two told Haru in unison.

"Oh, that's just scary," Genma said from his spot.

Hayate rolled his eyes in response and waited to see how Yuzuki would handle fighting her cousin. The crowd was still pumped from the last match, but some were whispering about the _Hyuuga Half-breed_. He shot a glare towards a man who had said it loudly, the killing intent the man felt was nothing compared to what he could do.

"Begin."

Ino felt her stomach drop when she lost sight of her cousin. She moved back from the starting area. The crowd was confused when they noticed the taller girl just standing there making hand signs. Yuzuki had perfected this little bit of mental torture, and all because of Anko teaching her the hell viewing technique. She removed the sound around Ino and began to weave whispers, making it sound as though the crowd was confused but she slowly sneaked in mutters that had no meaning behind them.

"Are you gonna move?" Haru quietly asked her.

She paid him no mind and he seemed surprised when Ino let out a scream and backed away from something only she could see while covering her ears. He then looked towards the other girl, a genjutsu type? She gave him a small smile before flickering out of his sight. He had trouble finding her, and he had to think back to who she had been around. Genma, that son of a bitch created one hell of a scary kid.

Ino broke free of the genjutsu and looked around from her cousin with her heart thumping in her chest. At first she thought the crowd had been confused at the fact that the other girl had completely disappeared, but then she heard voices talking about butter and soap. It had been nonsensical, and she was starting to worry about the sanity of Konoha, then she had seen figures rising from the ground. Each one was of Yuzuki and she was moving her body in ways that didn't look natural, she saw one of the faces and that was when she screamed. She saw her cousins dead face, though most of it was gone. It took her a while to figure out that it was a genjutsu.

She almost winced as she felt her cousin appear behind her, an apologetic expression on her face. She couldn't dodge the juken that hit her shoulder, but she could jump back to dodge the kick sent towards her midsection. They met each other in taijutsu. It wasn't her best idea, but Yuzuki wasn't letting up. The other girl was mechanical in her movements, but would send creative attacks towards her.

Was she jumping back too much, she'd grab her by the clothes and cause her to jump over her to dodge another attack. She was panting heavily but Yuzuki was barely breaking a sweat. A quick movement came towards her and a hit to her stomach caused her to double over and cough. A quick hit to the back of her neck, in a particular place where there was a nerve, caused her to fall to the ground. She couldn't move her body and Yuzuki turned towards Haru.

"Winner, Yamanaka Yuzuki!" He announced and the crowd went wild, one major voice being Genma.

"Here, I've got you." Yuzuki gently told her cousin as she fixed the nerve and she regained feeling in her body and could move, "Sorry, but that was the only way I could end the fight with minimal damage to you…but you've improved so much!"

Yuzuki wasn't just saying that to be nice, Ino had been able to keep up with her once it turned to taijutsu and fighting that she was used to. Ino wasn't used to genjutsu being used against her, and made a mental note to spar with her cousin more often.

"You can be scary when you want to be," Ino informed her, "But what the hell was that about butter and soap?"

"Just my special brand of crazy," Yuzuki grinned.

"Geez."

Hayate let out a soft breath of relief as the two girls talked to one another as they headed back to the waiting area. There were no hard feelings between them, and they seemed happy with how things had gone. He was happy how it had gone. He had been afraid that Yuzuki would go to far and hurt her cousin to the point where she'd be taken out of the impending fight. She seemed to feel his eyes and he watched as the dirty-blonde girl looked at him before smiling softly.

It was a sweet smile and she looked back towards her chatty cousin. He turned towards Genma, who had finished his chips during the fight, and he nodded. They both knew to keep their guard up, the boy with the puppet seemed like he didn't want to fight. That pushed Gaara's match closer to happening.

"She did an excellent job with that genjutsu," Hayate said, "She's creative with how she layers them."

"She's going to get promoted," Genma told him as he looked at the jonin around them and a few of the clan heads, "She impressed quite a few people doing that, annoyed the civilians though."

"Of course, she did," Hayate sighed.

"U-Um, Gekko san?" A small voice asked, and they turned to see a familiar pinkette.

"Yes, Sakura?" Hayate questioned.

"Just what genjutsu did she use?" She asked.

"An auditory genjutsu paired with the hell viewing technique," He answered, "I think she also used one to make herself disappear, but I'm not too sure."

"It would explain why her cousin jumped away from her and looked around like she couldn't see her." Genma said with a slight smirk.

Sakura made a mental note to not underestimate the taller girl. If she could do just that with genjutsu what would she be able to do with other areas? She'd have to start bettering herself if she wanted to try and catch up to the girl and then surpass her. She was going to do so. Her words should be marked!


	21. Chapter 21

**For those of you who have reviewed, thank you! Even though this website is making things difficult I deeply appreciate each review that I get. I was finally able to read all of them! I'm glad that so many of you are enjoying this story. The poll will be down tomorrow and judging by the results I might use the amount of people who voted for Kakashi to eventually write another fic. It might end up being a cross over or something weird. There's no telling with me to be honest. **

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21

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"Proctor, I give up!" Kankuro said as the next match was called.

Shikamaru made a face at that and tried to ignore the need to hit his head against the railing. He didn't want to go out a fight, his mind was already racing at ways to conserve as much chakra as possible. That's why he had noticed the way that Ino and Yuzuki were fighting, they were fighting with moves that used little to no chakra. He hadn't been expecting the taller girl to pull out genjutsu like she had.

"I never placed you as a genjutsu type," He huffed, and she raised a brow at him before sticking a senbon between her lips.

"I'm full of surprises," she chuckled.

"Woah, what happened to your teeth?" He asked as he finally noticed the missing canines.

"I lost my remaining baby teeth, lay off," She grumbled, and he huffed.

"What's with Sasuke-kun being so late?" Ino muttered in annoyance, "He might get disqualified."

"Ne, Yuzuki-chan," Said girl looked over at Naruto, "Why'd the villagers call you half-breed?"

"Because some believe that clans shouldn't intermingle," She answered, "I'm half Hyuuga and half Yamanaka, which caused some bad blood within the Hyuuga clan and it spilled out into the civilian population."

"The Hyuuga clan isn't as mighty as they think they are," He grumbled as he rested against the railing, "You and Hinata are worth more than all of them."

He missed the smiles sent his way by the two girls next to him. He had just scored points with Ino and didn't even realize it. He squinted at the arena as Haru scratched the back of his head in annoyance. The crowd was turning against him due to the fact that Kankuro had given up before even fighting.

The action had put Hayate and Genma on alert as the presence of more shinobi was made noticeable. It seemed as though the ANBU operatives that the hokage had placed within the arena were getting ready for an attack. The fact that the Suna nin had simply given up, was a complete red flag to all the higher-level shinobi in the area.

"She's in there with him," Genma hissed, a slight sound caused them to look up to see that the pinkette was still standing near them.

"Might as well sit with us," Hayate sighed as he motioned towards the empty seat on his right, "We'll give you a rundown of what's going on."

Sakura sat down and gave them a slight frown. Genma was quick in explaining what was going on and she paled. She looked down towards the waiting area and noticed the way the rookie genin were acting. It was like they were at the academy and having a good time, it was to ignore the fact that they were going to be brought into a battle. She felt her hands trembling and Genma sighed before reaching over and patting her head, ever the mother hen.

"Relax," He told her, "Don't think about it, if you do you'll just bring attention to yourself."

"How can you be so calm about it?" She questioned as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Because the job requires us to be," he answered and Hayate gave a curt nod at that, "You learn how to be calm in such situations, it becomes second nature."

Sakura gave a look of understanding at that as she turned her attention towards the jonin who was waiting to announce the next match when Temari jumped down. She remembered the way the blonde had decimated Tenten, the other girl didn't even stand a chance.

"Shikamaru, get down here!" The Proctor yelled up towards the Nara.

"Oh man," Shikamaru quietly whined as he clenched at the railing, "Why'd it have to be my turn already?"

"Thems the breaks Shikamaru," Yuzuki sighed as she sent him a raised brow.

"You can do it, Shikamaru!" Ino informed him with a grin.

"Go for it!" Naruto went to give him a pat on the back, but sent him flying over the railing.

He let out a slight cry that ended with a loud crash as he hit the ground. Shikamaru stared up at the faces of the two girls who were wincing in sympathy and an apologetic Naruto. The blonde hadn't meant to send the other boy down that way, but noting how angry the crowd was he felt it was probably for the best. Shikamaru simply let out a sigh and turned his head to look at the sky before looking at Temari. He'd rather spend his day cloud watching instead of constant battling.

"Would you get up all ready? How long were you planning to lie there?" Temari barked at him a frown on her face as she put a hand on her hip, "Are you going to give up too?"

"Ugh," He muttered as he tried to think about how he kept being forced to fight women.

Seriously, who did he made mad upstairs to have this happen twice in a row? He wasn't usually a bad guy, though he did say things that could be construed as sexist. He didn't even react when Temari ran towards him with her fan held out to the side. He called chakra to his feet and easily pulled himself into a standing position when she hit where he had been.

"Well, as a guy I can't really lose to a girl," He grumbled.

She seemed annoyed at that and waved her fan at him. He quickly substituted himself to avoid the sharp wind. He hid within the shadows of the few trees that remained on the field. He thought to what he could do, he wasn't a genjutsu type like Yuzuki so he couldn't confuse his opponent and take them out with taijutsu and he wasn't really a frontal assault like Naruto. Him and Ino were long distance fighters that had been matched against those that were mid to close range fighters. Yuzuki may claim to be long distance, but she had different types of taijutsu to call upon not to mention the swords on her back.

"Why couldn't I just stare at the clouds?" He sighed before scratching his cheek.

"He really is so lazy," Hayate sighed as the boy stayed hiding in the shadows.

"Did we miss Yuzu-chans fight?" A voice said and he looked to Eiji and Daichi walking towards them.

The two boys had a shy girl with white hair walking next to them, she was covered in bandages and it was his best bet that this had been their injured teammate. She looked up before gaining a light pink blush to her face and hiding behind her two teammates.

"Yes," Genma confirmed, "She won hers with genjutsu and taijutsu."

"Oh geez, I thought she had been scary using genjutsu in the forest," Eiji muttered, "I wouldn't have wanted to face that."

"So, she really did use genjutsu on other teams," Genma muttered in amusement.

Daichi and Eiji gave them smiles before heading to find a place to sit and watch Shikamaru's match against Temari. The two were performing strategy instead of straight out battling. It was interesting to watch. It didn't help that Shikamaru was watching clouds with a strange expression on his face, it almost looked like he was jealous of them.

"Leave it to Shikamaru to be jealous of clouds," Ino muttered in amusement.

That amusement changed when a gust of wind blew through the arena and kicked dust into everyone's eyes. Yuzuki winced as some of the sharp wind was close enough to cause rips and tears on her bandages, she noted some small red spots appearing on the white cloth. She brought a hand down and rubbed at the spots that were stinging slightly.

"Even from there," Yuzuki muttered as Naruto complained about the dust in his eyes, "She could attack up here."

Temari had a sharp mind, she had gathered that much with their short friendship, but she was stronger than the dirty blonde expected. She saw Shikamaru's shadow extend and her eyes widened when she saw something in his hand. Ah, so he had found the kunai she had tossed into the trees when she began her taijutsu attack on Ino. She wondered what he was going to do with it. He simply tossed it closer to the stands and she felt relieved. He knew it was her's, he may not know why she left it there but figured it was important.

"Ah, he's attacking with his shadow," Ino commented.

"But will it be enough?" Yuzuki questioned as the blonde girl below jumped to avoid the attack.

"Looks like there's a limit to how much you can use your shadow," Temari commented as she drew a line in the dirt, "No matter how you change and stretch it, you can't stretch it any further than the surface of your normal shadow, right?"

Yuzuki couldn't help but think that she wasn't looking at the entire field. Because it was filled with holes from Naruto and Neji's fight. She didn't realize that Shikamaru was right next to the main one and that he was bating her towards the exit. They stayed in that position for a while, until Temari attacked with another wind jutsu.

Shikamaru came out of hiding and a few people realized that he wasn't even wearing his coat anymore. He was just in his mesh shirt. Ino looked around for it in confusion before following Yuzuki's sight to see it drifting in the sky. Temari seemed a bit confident that she was going to win.

"Temari! From above!" Kankuro warned.

She looked up to see the jacket drifting in the sky and that increased the amount that Shikamaru could stretch his shadow. She quickly backed up all the way until the hole. She made the coat fly away and Yuzuki sighed at that and gave a low chuckle. Everyone looked at her in confusion before noticing that Temari couldn't move.

"He moved her all the way to the hole left behind by you, Naruto," Yuzuki informed the boy, "It was a clever bit of strategy seeing as she was too concerned with her opponent and didn't seem to contemplate her surroundings."

"He thinks so many steps ahead that it's insane," Ino added, "If you thought Yuzuki was able to plan well, then Shikamaru is a hundred times worse."

"That's it, I give up." Shikamaru said as he raised his hand.

Haru looked at him for a few minutes, and everyone ignored the cackle that came from the waiting area, which was quite impressive that it raveled as far as it did. He couldn't believe the kid in front of him. Here he was seconds from victory, and he gave up. He didn't understand this round of genin. They were so strange. One was an absolute psychopath that seemed to derive some form of joy from psychological torture, another was hyperactive and didn't know when to call it quits, and this one was completely lazy.

"I'm pretty tired of this match, so the winner is Temari!" Haru announced.

"It makes sense that Yuzuki has some basis within strategy," Genma commented at the announcement, "She's never once beat him though."

"She gets bored in shogi, it doesn't hold her attention very well," Hayate added, "Put her on the battlefield and her true strategies appear."

"Put her in the kitchen and they appear there as well," Genma chuckled, "She treats the kitchen like a battlefield."

Sakura tilted her head at that and quietly listened in to the conversations around her. So far, she heard Ino and Yuzuki's name being thrown around as possible chuunins. Shikamaru was put into that consideration and she couldn't believe how far ahead those three were. Not even a month ago Ino had been just like her, but for a whole month she could be seen practicing with her team and learning more jutsu's from her father. Even her rival in love had surpassed her, and she had stayed the same.

She couldn't help but find Naruto annoying when he ran up to Shikamaru complaining how the other boy had lost. She held her hands together as her mind informed her that it was now Sasuke's and Gaara's match. She barely reacted to the crowd as they grew restless due to the lack of her teammate. She clenched her hands tighter and frowned.

"Yuzuki," Ino softly said upon noticing the look on her cousin's face.

"Yeah," She replied, "she turned towards Shino, "Shino."

He simply gave a nod and she watched as two bugs dropped from the sleeve of his coat and flew towards Kankuro, and then Temari as she rejoined them. She had a feeling he was putting bugs on them that he would be able to track. She turned her attention towards the stands and noted where all the ANBU operatives were. She found them with ease and noted that they were also ready for the incoming attack.

"Do you think he'll show?" Kankuro questioned Gaara.

"He'll come, definitely." Gaara confirmed.

"Why do I feel the need to hit someone?" Yuzuki quietly said as leaves appeared in the arena.

"Stop showboating," Haru sighed at the appearance of Kakashi and Sasuke, "We have a tournament to continue."

Well, she was glad she wasn't the only one unamused at the late entrance. It seemed as though Kakashi was still doing the most annoying things when it came to his other male student. She looked towards Naruto and noticed the grin on his face, though there was slight disappointment there. She clenched at the railing and wondered how she started to crush on the silver haired man. She closed her eyes and realized that it had been such a flighty thing.

"Ah, you look ready to hit both of them," Ino pointed out.

"A shinobi doesn't showboat like this," She answered, "They show what they can do through skill, not flashy moves of entrances. Kakashi is ridiculous."

"I hope Genma goes off on him." Ino commented.

"You just met him," She pointed out.

"Yeah, but he seems to put you in your place, he'd do the same."

"That's valid."

She paused at that as Sasuke insulted Naruto and realized that she did say that a lot. No wonder Genma picked it up. She scratched the back of her head and tried to stop the unamused expression from appearing on her face. She watched as Kakashi was given the news that Sasuke was almost disqualified, and felt the need to throw a shoe at him for acting so nonchalant about it.

"I hate him," Genma stated as he chewed on his senbon.

"He's ridiculous," Hayate agreed, "You want to yell at him or should I?"

"Can I have the honors?" Genma asked, "As much as I'd like to send the kid into yell at him, it might be a bit cathartic."

"Are you going to yell at Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked the two with a frown.

"No, your sensei," Hayate answered, "He's instilling bad habits in his students and it's time someone let him know."

"Why would Yuzuki yell at him?" She questioned with a strange expression on her face.

"It's not that she memorized the shinobi rule book, it's that she knows better," Genma answered, "Allowing such traits to continue will lead to that boy leaving the village, she's seen it happen before or at least read about it from the other villages that had shinobi leave."

"What's wrong with my behavior?" She asked them much to their surprise.

"You don't take the job seriously," Genma said with a slight frown, "You chase after a boy who really isn't worth your time, your clothes scream target, and you need to stop dieting. If you don't you'll die, if you don't want to take this job seriously then quit."

"That's just as harsh as Yuzuki," Hayate informed him with a slight sigh.

"It was actually nicer," She told him, "And less terrifying."

"Just what the hell did she do?" Hayate questioned with raised brows.

"She yelled at first and then cracked the wall with a light slap," She answered, "I haven't been able to recreate that yet."

Hayate looked at her before realizing that, though Yuzuki had taken it too far, she had ended up inspiring Sakura to do better. He had to wonder if she reigned with fear back when she led her own squads. If so, then she had to be one hell of a leader to inspire someone like that. He remembered back to the tall woman with dark hair and blue eyes that she had been, she didn't seem fear inspiring. He sighed at that as Genma got up to his feet.

"Wish me luck," Genma said.

"I don't have to, you're going to have fun," Hayate muttered.

"What rank does a person have to be to join torture and interrogation?" Sakura asked him out of the blue.

"Chuunin, that's why Yuzuki is trying so hard to advance," He answered as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You'd also need to learn all the points in the body and the way the human mind works, it's more work than one can do in the time it takes for the next chuunin exams."

Sakura made a sound of understanding and wondered just how long it took the Yamanaka to learn all that information. She had been constantly reading during their academy days, had she been learning all the way back then? It didn't change much of how she saw the other girl, but it did give her some kind of respect for what she could do. Her personality was shit though, but she wouldn't say that to the man next to her. He didn't seem as though he'd agree.

"Yo, Hatake," Genma called to the white-haired jonin as Gaara went down to the arena to begin the fight.

"Shiranui," Kakashi greeted back, "What's wrong?"

"I'm saying this before the kid can sink her claws into you," He informed him, "You need to actually stop some of your students behaviors, Sasuke will leave the village if you allow his feelings of superiority to continue, Sakura will end up getting killed if you don't stamp out her fangirl tendencies, and Naruto is capable but needs something to keep his mind preoccupied while training."

"How would she put it?" Kakashi was curious.

"Get your ass in gear and actually train your students," He replied, "Either stamp out those behaviors and keep your kids alive, or give them to a different jonin to train them."

Kakashi looked surprised at that, it did sound like something that Yuzuki would say. She would be just as calm; he couldn't help but see her standing next to Genma. Her pale eyes would be glaring him down and the veins slightly protruding as she barely kept a hold on her carefully constructed calm. He almost felt chastised by such words.

"She has a way with words," Kakashi huffed.

"She scared Sakura into trying to change," He replied, "She almost made the other girl give up being a shinobi until she felt the need to prove her wrong."

"Did she use to inspire people with fear?" Kakashi asked.

"I thought that as well, but I think it's just how she talks," He answered, "She preys on the mind with words that people have already thought, I don't think she realizes it."

"ANBU is here, the attacks happening for sure then," Kakashi muttered.

"Yeah, the konoha genin in the waiting area were informed by Yuzuki," He said, "Naruto and Sasuke are the only ones who don't know, simply because they can't keep their mouths shut."

Kakashi held his hands up in defense at the tone the other man was using. He was going to do better; he was able to keep his expression neutral upon realizing that he'd have to be on time to train his students. Key word being train. He put his hands into his pockets and went to stand next to his "rival" and his student. The match between Sasuke and Gaara was going to be a turning point during the chuunin exams. He listened to the whispers around him.

So, Naruto passed his round. He'd be facing Yuzuki if suna and oto didn't attack during Sasuke's match. He'd lose, Naruto never noticed genjutsu and would meet his match with the preteen. Both were stubborn, but she'd focus on the mission and conserve her chakra for the upcoming fight.

Haru began the match and wisely got out of the way. Sand immediately poured out of the gourd on Gaara's back and Sasuke looked at him with a frown. Gaara was mumbling about his mother wanting blood and he didn't even want to know what he meant by that. He tried shuriken but the sand rose and blocked the small throwing stars. The sand turned into a clone and he took off from his spot with a speed that he hadn't had the month before.

"How'd he get so fast?" Ino questioned.

"He copied it from Lee," Yuzuki answered, "That's the true nature of the Sharingan, it copies what people work hard for."

"Can it copy clan jutsus?" Ino asked.

"I think so, but any Uchiha who does so leaves themselves wide open to clan politics," She answered, "No one would be able to argue with a clan if he did steal a technique and then used it, his chakra would be blocked and he'd no longer be able to use his sharingan…it happened once and then never again."

Ino was a bit unnerved at that and looked down at the boy who was using taijutsu that he hadn't previously known. He was moving so quick, and without the weights that Lee had, and breaking through the sand to hit his opponent. He seemed to get a hit, but the sand stopped him and held him in place. He brought a palm back and used a move that was similar to Yuzuki's style of juken mixed with regular taijutsu. Ino paused as well and her eyes grew wide.

"That's a juken move!" Naruto yelled out.

"When the hell did he copy it?" She murmured, "He wasn't around for my round or Neji's."

Sasuke landed a hit and Gaara flew back a little. The red head was giving the boy a dirty look as he slowly got up. He had been reminded of the boy he fought, and then the girl who had decimated the pink haired genin. Sasuke was using a skillset that was different than he expected. His eyes widened when the dark-haired boy appeared behind him and kicked him towards the wall. His sand was having trouble keeping up with him, and his sand armor couldn't stay together. He was breathing heavily before he decided to stop playing around. He brought his hands together and called his sand to surround him in a sphere.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ino questioned.

"Which one?" Yuzuki asked, "Sasuke ran towards it like an idiot, Gaara's ultimate weapon is his sand to run towards it without a thought…"

Sasuke got injured by running headfirst at the sphere of sand. He tried to attack it with taijutsu before jumping back and holding a hand up. Yuzuki watched as he gathered visible chakra to his hand and a sudden chirping sound filled the air. He wouldn't…would he? She watched as a familiar jutsu took form. Kakashi had taught that boy his Chidori, that was such a stupid move!

"That idiot," Yuzuki hissed before turning towards the quietly bickering suna siblings.

She grimaced as Sasuke cut through the sand as if it didn't exist. It was quiet for a few seconds before a bloodcurdling scream came from the sand sphere. Everyone stared at it, the hokage was taken aback by such a sound. It would mean that Gaara had never seen of felt his own blood before. It could be bad.

Sasuke freed his arm with a pained cry. Blood hit the ground as he held onto the heavily scratched up appendix. Something came towards him from the sphere and he quickly dodged it. It was when the sand fell did they see that Gaara was indeed injured. Feathers began to fly in the air and Yuzuki quickly dispelled the genjutsu before it could take a hold of her.

"Now?" Ino muttered as she did the same.

"Act as if we fell for it," Yuzuki hissed at her, "We don't want an alteration in the waiting room."

Ino and Yuzuki quietly fell to the ground and Shino followed suit. It wasn't long till the suna siblings left the room and the three quickly got to their feet. It seemed as though whatever operation oto and suna had planned was starting. They jumped over the railing and headed towards the wall. They needed to regroup with a superior and get their orders.

Hayate and Genma deactivated the genjutsu and looked around with frowns, it was showtime.


	22. Chapter 22

**There's so much fighting in this chapter. Battles are always interesting to write. Also, Ookami means wolf I didn't realize that it was being autocorrected until now. When I reach chapter 25 or 26 I will go back and fix up chapters 16-26 before posting 27. The poll was changed to be for the next Naruto fic and several characters were put down for consideration. This poll will be kept up until December! So that means that this is a Hayate/OC fic! I hope you all vote on the poll for the next fic and when December arrives, or when I start that next fic, you'll know who it'll be with.**

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22

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The smell of blood hit the three genin's noses as they rushed towards the stands and jumped up. They easily sailed over the railing and landed with ease. A kunai sent flying from Yuzuki stopped a suna nin from attacking Ino. The blonde gave her a nod of thanks before they rushed towards Hayate and Genma, who were in a fight with oto nin. Hayate turned and noticed the three coming towards them.

He moved as a juken put his opponent down and a kunai got Genma's. Both men seemed surprised but noticed that the three preteens were keeping an eye on the area around them. He was a bit relieved to see that they were unharmed. They did seem worried about a fight, but that was to be expected.

"We're awaiting orders," Yuzuki informed him.

"Right, most genin are to help with evacuating the city," He told them before looking at the blonde and bug user, "Ino, Shino, will you two do that?"

"Understood," Ino and Shino agreed, and Ino seemed to realize something, "What about Yuzuki?"

"She's good at genjutsu, and she can see the chakra system," He explained, "We'll have her find other shinobi within the crowd and send them your way."

The three broke off. Ino sent her cousin a worried look before getting a reassuring smile. Yuzuki took in a deep breath and activated her byakugan, she needed to quickly find all the shinobi in the large arena and disrupt the genjutsu surrounding them. She was quick as she found the first ones, Daichi and Eiji with an unknown girl. She broke the genjutsu on them and they looked around in confusion.

"Genin are to help evacuate the civilians to safety," She explained, "Any jonin or chuunin will be happy to point the way to you, be safe."

They nodded in understanding and they helped their female teammate out of the arena. Yuzuki didn't pay them any mind as she ducked a kunai and drew her tachi. She grimaced as a warm liquid hit her face. She easily pulled her sword free and began to search for her next shinobi. He was easily found and left to join the battle, the jonin didn't even need to be told what he had to do.

Ten shinobi and five kunoichi later found her starting to worry about how many troops suna and oto had. She had already dodged ten kunai in the five minutes it took her to find another kunoichi. She narrowed her eyes and cut down another oto nin that was in her way. She was fairly sure that Kakashi and the man in green spandex were keeping count of how many they took down. It was ridiculous, but it was harmless.

"Aren't you Genma's kid?" The kunoichi asked.

"Chuunin and jonin are to join the battle and genin are to help evacuate the civilians," She replied in a robotic manner, "Pardon me."

She let out a huff as she used juken on the heart of a charging suna nin. The kunoichi seemed taken aback by the twelve-year old taking down people easily ten years her senior. Her mouth hung open for a few seconds before she shook her head. She was a jonin, she shouldn't be that surprised by a genin genius.

"I'll watch your back while you wake up more of our comrades," The woman informed her.

"Thank you," Yuzuki said with a tiny smile.

The woman nodded and jumped up to gain the attention of a few suna nin. She would act as a distraction to pull the attention away from the preteen that was waking the other ninja up. It also allowed her to view the area around them with ease.

Genma watched as more nin went towards the newly awakened kunoichi and he wiped his face. He was sweating heavily, and he looked towards Hayate to see the man was doing the same. There had been more enemies than either had expected. He was sure that his kid had just left a trail while waking up the few jonin and chuunin she could find amongst the civilians. If it didn't seem like favoritism he would recommend her for promotion.

"She works fast under pressure," Genma said before tossing a senbon into another man's eye.

"It works in our favor," Hayate agreed before cutting a man down with ease, "Remind me to buy her some dango."

"The good kind with strawberries in it are her favorite," Genma informed him, "And I will hold you to that."

A wind attack came towards them and they jumped from the spot. They met up with Kakashi and Might Gai. The four easily took out the wind user before turning to see four more jonin and a chuunin join their ranks. Hayate looked around to see where the Yamanaka was and noticed she was freeing another shinobi. She had sweat going down her blood covered face. He felt the need to make this up to her, dango wasn't going to cut it.

A loud crash caught all of their attention, apparently a giant snake had been summoned and was rampaging through the village. Hayate and Genma made matching looks of disbelief and slight worry. The Hokage was trapped within a purple barrier doing his own battle against Orochimaru. Genma reacted to an oto nin running their way, they hadn't sensed them at first. A yellow blur, well more like a flash, went past the nin and they fell. The scarf that was on their head was removed showing a young woman.

"What the hell was that?" Gai asked as he kicked a nin down.

"That was probably Yuzuki," Genma answered, "She probably saw him and figured it would be faster to get to the other side of the arena that way."

"You taught her the Hiraishin?" Kakashi asked, his tone accusatory.

"You taught the Uchiha the Chidori?" Genma turned on him.

Gai looked between the two and, as much as he adored his best friend and rival, couldn't help but agree with Genma. Sasuke was one of those people that could possibly turn that attack against a comrade and not care. Hayate stayed quiet and watched to see where that blur had gone. Yuzuki appeared and landed hard on one of the seats. She was breathing heavily and when she stood he could see her legs shaking.

This was costing her serious chakra to wake up all the shinobi in the area. He watched as she took down an enemy with her sword, her form was strong enough that she could still fight while exhausted. She was being overtaken by suna, she ducked an attack from one man and used the senbon in her mouth to take him out. She hit him in the eye, what was with her and Genma hitting them in the eyes? The other nin went down due to her tanto.

"Kid, you going to be all right?" The kunoichi from earlier asked as she took a stance against her back and helped fight off the enemy nin.

"I'm starting to run a bit low on chakra, but there's so many shinobi still stuck under the genjutsu," Yuzuki answered, "Thank you, for having my back."

"Of course, you're a comrade," The woman said as she stabbed a kunai into the throat of a man and kicked his body towards a woman, "The names Ibe Mai."

"You probably heard my name during my match, but it Yamanaka Yuzuki," Yuzuki introduced herself with a tiny smile.

"Look alive," Mai warned, and she watched the twelve-year-old cut a man down without even looking.

Right, the byakugan. She was using it more than she had in quite a long time. It was tiring her out, so she deactivated it to save her chakra. She could still sense the higher level shinobi, but finding the genin around civilians was a bit difficult to manage.

"She made a friend," Genma sounded amused at that.

Hayate rolled his eyes and noted the suna jonin instructor moving around and taking down konoha nins. He felt his jaw clench as the man's dark eyes turned towards Yuzuki and Mai. He moved quickly and hit the man in the arm with his sword. The man seemed surprised that he would attack him on his own. Genma had a feeling that it was personal, but he wouldn't step in until the other man's life was in danger.

Sakura looked around at all the death and destruction around her with wide eyes. She ducked at a jonin from Konoha took down a man from oto. She felt the blood splattering on her face. That was all she could smell; all she could feel. Her body began to tremble and a slight hit to her head caught her attention.

"All genin are to leave the arena and help evacuate the civilians," Yuzuki informed her as Mai happily threw a man at another konoha nin, "You'll be out of the heat of battle and safer, Sakura."

"Why are you still here?" Sakura asked as the girl tossed a senbon in a direction the pinkette couldn't see.

"I was given orders to help break out the shinobi in the arena, you're a genjutsu type as well right?" Yuzuki asked.

"Y-yeah," Sakura nodded.

"Then join our group and help me get some more comrades out to fight," She ordered, "We need all the genjutsu users we can get."

Sakura blinked at that before nodding. She was getting a chance to do something, she didn't even care that it was an order from the taller girl. Mai smirked at the two rivals, it was starting to look like another Kakashi and Gai pairing. One would always have a disadvantage but would pull through in the end and become a splendid shinobi, the other would be as well if not a bit stronger.

"Right, some of the shinobi are in civvies," Yuzuki said, "You'll have to sense them apart from the civilians surrounding them."

Civvies? If Sakura didn't know any better she'd think that was a slur used towards the civilians. She moved towards a nearby shinobi and started to release the genjutsu on the man. She remembered what Yuzuki had told her and informed the man that if he was a genin to help evacuate civilians and if he was a higher rank to join the fight. They had made it around the arena by the time Kakashi had pinpointed the pinkettes position.

"Sakura, I'm going to give you a mission," Kakashi told her, "Wake up Naruto and Shikamaru and go after the three suna genin, this will be an A-rank mission."

"Good luck, Sakura," Yuzuki told her before turning to Mai, "Ready?"

"Let's go take some more of those bastards down," Mai grinned.

Yuzuki gave her a look at that before letting out a slight sigh. The two women moved in unison and kicked a man in the face. He dropped due to the double points of injury to his skull. It didn't help that one of the kunoichi used chakra to enhance her hits. They quickly made their way through the enemy nin and rejoined a few of the konoha nin they had helped wake up.

Hayate and the suna jonin were fighting. He wasn't going to let the man get a hold of his sword, and the other man wasn't letting him get close. He used kawarimi to get out of the way of a wind attack and appeared behind him, landing a kick to his face. The man went flying and he charged with his sword, getting him in the shoulder. He had a flashback to his death, and he released the katana before jumping away from a wind blade. He landed and then had to look out for two forms running in front of him. He spared a glance to see his student and Ibe Mai, a jonin who could be just as crazy as Anko and was a few years younger than him.

"Yuzuki," Mai called.

"Right!" Yuzuki nodded.

She grabbed onto the older woman and easily launched her towards an oto kunoichi. Hayate knew the other woman was dead just from the kunai that protruded from her head. He didn't even want to know how they were able to get to be on such wavelengths with one another. He had more important things to focus on.

"Yuzuki," He called out and the girl appeared next to him, "Can I borrow your tanto?"

"Yeah, go for it," She handed it over to him before catching a kunai and returning it to the sender, "Be careful, Hayate."

She sent him a meaningful look at that, and his expression softened. He then returned his focus towards the suna jonin that was breathing heavily and holding onto his shoulder. He was annoyed when his katana was tossed to the side as if it was trash, but pushed it down and got ready to hit the man in a more vulnerable area. He would hit him in the stomach, where it would be difficult to survive. The two rushed at one another and he took a hit to his shoulder and simply stabbed the man.

He stared ahead as the suna jonin tensed up before stepping back. He seemed to think about something before using a hand sign and getting out of the arena. Hayate took the victory, he had revenged his own death. It was a weird feeling, but he was happy.

"Who the hell summons a giant frog in the middle of a village?" Yuzuki yelled out as the shadow of said frog reached them.

"Who the hell can summon a giant ookami?" Genma turned on her.

"You're a genius, Genma," She informed him with a grin.

She gauged how much chakra she had left. With having Sakura help her with the shinobi trapped in the genjutsu, and stopping her use of the byakugan, she had chakra to spare to call on Yosuke. She needed another helper to take down enemies. She bit her thumb with the sharpest teeth she had, and quickly performed the hand signs to summon her favorite summons. She blinked when a large Ookami, that wasn't Yosuke and it was too small to be Lupa-hime, appeared before her.

"So, you're the runt," The Ookami sniffed before reacting to an oto nin trying to stab it.

She, at least Yuzuki thought it was a she, bit the nin in two. She hadn't been expecting that of all things. She thought her and Mai were violent when taking down their enemies, but that was a whole new level. The Ookami shook her head in a proud manner before looking down at the dirty blonde with bright yellow eyes.

"Cute," The Ookami huffed, "I am Makoto, I was sent with a tiny pup for you but that should wait until the enemy has been taken care of."

"Right, Makoto-chan," Yuzuki smiled.

If Ookami could blush she was sure the large wolf would've done so. She got a tail hit to the head and she noted that this one had two tails. Her mind began to run the possibilities that her summons might be demons. Maybe Lupa had more than one and hid it, that would be a smart thing to do incase someone summoned her and then tried to seal her inside a person.

The fighting seemed to increase within the village as reinforcements arrived in the form of clan head and returning ANBU operatives. The Oto and Suna nins were surprised by the sudden morale shown to them and one received a punch to the face that sent him flying from a girl that barely reached his shoulder. Makoto finished off another man by tossing him like a chew toy. Few nin wanted to face the large glistening fangs that had saliva dripping from them.

"You're close to passing out," Makoto informed the genin.

"If I could take a break it'd be nice, but with the amount of attacks their doing it's impossible to get a breather," Yuzuki huffed, "I just need to increase my reserves even more after this."

"Good plan, runt," Makoto agreed.

She caught the genin when a jonin decided she was enough of a threat to take out. Hayate seemed to appear out of nowhere and take care of the man. He knelt near the summons and genin and watched as she caught her breath and wiped some blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked ready to drop and judging by her reaction time was starting to feel it.

"You going to be okay?" He asked her.

"I think so, I might sleep for a few days after this," She informed him before pulling him down as she released a kunai into a nin that was a few meters away, "Sorry about that."

He steadied her when she stumbled a bit as she stood up. He stood up as well and Makoto peered down at him before seemingly approving. She put her head down next to Yuzuki and mumbled something to her. The girl's cheeks turned a bright red before she physically closed the ookami's mouth. He wasn't even going to ask.

"I won't summon you again if you say that again," Yuzuki warned the ookami, who began to snicker.

"You should see your face," Makoto stated.

"Shut up."

Hayate snorted at the two as Genma reached them. They had a reprise from the fighting as the enemy retreated. Makoto dropped a small ball of grey fluff into Yuzuki's arms and the girl rushed to catch it. She then rushed to catch the scroll that was also dropped. Genma kept a keen eye out when the summons poofed into a cloud of smoke. He rushed forward as Yuzuki started to finally faint from pure exhaustion. He easily picked her up and carried her close as a familiar kunoichi appeared before them.

"Look at that, she finally ran out of juice," Mai said as she smiled at the genin, "She's a good kid, Genma be proud of her."

"Look at that, the whole village knows she's your kid," Hayate informed him with a sly smirk.

"And? She may not be his biologically, but he did a damn good job with her," Mai stepped up for the man before making a soft sound, "Put her on your back, we need to check on the hokage."

That was when they noticed that the barrier had finally fallen. Genma moved his kid to rest on his back and easily held onto her legs. He joined his fellow jonin on the roof of the building near the arena. Jiraiya was there and looking down at the body of his old teacher. A few of the shinobi around them were ones that Yuzuki had woken up before Sakura joined her. They spared the strange group a glance, some wondering when the kid had finally dropped, before turning back to the old man's body.

"Let's get him inside," Jiraiya said as a pair of chuunin moved to do just that and he moved towards Genma and Hayate, "So, this the kid I heard help gather the troops?"

"Yeah, kid woke quite a few of us up and told us to join the fight," A chuunin said his tone grave, "She was quite bossy about it."

Jiraiya shook his head at that, it sounded familiar. He watched as the two men were dismissed and several jonin were told to go out on patrol. They needed to round up any Oto and Suna nins that were still alive and take them into interrogation to figure out what the hell they were thinking. Genma took a route that brought them to the hospital.

"I don't know what blood is her's and what isn't," He informed a nurse as she rushed forward to take the girl from him.

"We're sure it's chakra exhaustion, but we'll check her over," She told him.

Genma stood there for a few seconds before heading after the woman. Hayate let an amused smile grace his face before a doctor noticed his shoulder and pulled him into a room to get his shoulder checked and fixed. He came out a half hour later and went to go find his friend and Yuzuki. He rolled his stiff shoulder slightly and looked around for the familiar head of brunette hair and senbon.

"Ah, Gekko-san," He looked around and saw that Ino was calling for him, "She's in this room."

He raised a brow at that and gave her a thankful smile before heading towards the room that was at the end of the hall. He knew that the hospital was going to be flooded with injured nin, and soon. No wonder Genma had taken her here first so she would be sure to get treatment for any injuries she had.

"She had a few cuts along her arms and one on her back, her shoulder was also dislocated," Genma informed him as he walked in, "How she didn't feel any of that I'll never know."

"All that matters is that she's alive," Ino huffed as she took a seat next to the other girls bed, "Hinata should be coming by later to visit her, but I don't think she'll wake up until tomorrow afternoon."

"Why's that?" Hayate asked.

"Her chakra was exhausted, but not completely gone," Genma explained, "She fought in that battle until she was sure that she was safe enough to drop."

"Is it the summoning that exhausted her so much?" He asked.

"No, it was her last few opponents that were above her level," Genma answered, "She went up against three jonin, the fourth one that went after her was the one you took care of."

"If she doesn't get promoted, I'll wonder what kami she pissed off," Ino commented.

Genma didn't want to point out that she had a whole stadium of jonin and chuunin that would vouch for her. Didn't want to mention that Ino had a chance as well since she had followed orders and helped with the evacuation, something her father was sure to be proud of. He just wanted to go home and have dinner with his kid and best friend. Huh, he wondered when he started thinking of Yuzuki's house as home. He decided that it didn't matter, but he should probably stop paying for his apartment if he wasn't using it.

Two days later found all of Konohagakure outside and in the rain. The face of the Sandaime on the hokage mountain had a crack in it, and everyone couldn't help but think it had been an omen that came too late. The shinobi were standing on the roof in front of the reason why. The Sandaime's coffin was before them and they all looked ahead in respect.

Naruto was fresh out of the hospital and he looked around to see who was there and who wasn't. He saw Yuzuki near him standing behind Konohamaru, a gentle hand on his shoulder to help comfort him. Her arm was in a sling and bandaged up. A small ball of fluff was sitting on her good shoulder, he watched as it moved before bright silver eyes looked at him and a tiny tongue made itself known.

Konohamaru was crying and the man next to him knelt to bring him into a hug while Yuzuki kept a hand on his shoulder. Iruka seemed surprised that she was that worried about the small boy, but realized that he needed the silent understanding. Her face was unreadable, but her eyes help sympathy and understanding towards the small boy.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto quietly called, "What are humans? Can life be this simple?"

"When a person dies it doesn't matter if it's the past, present, or future, they lose everything," Iruka told him as he understood what Naruto meant, "He died fighting in a mission, death caught him unaware because life is that simple…it's like a dream it's all the same even if you haven't reached your goal, but everyone knows the most important thing is to die for a cause."

"Ne, Yuzu-nee-chan," Konohamaru gently tugged on her black shirt, "Will you miss the old man?"

"I think everyone will miss him, so many of us knew him for so long that he became the village grandfather that everyone adored," She answered as she crouched next to him.

"Family, friends, lovers, and all the other villagers are important people and they found him just as important," Iruka added on, "From the day we're born to the day we die, we start to feel that love is the most important thing, and that kind of relationship requires time to develop and that's why it becomes important."

"Yeah, but death is still painful," Naruto said.

"The Hokage wouldn't think it's painful," Kakashi said, surprising them, "Because we both agree that people should not hurt for no reason, but it's no use even if you do understand."

"Right, but not knowing is better than knowing," Naruto said with a slight smile.

Everyone placed Chrysanthemum's on the hokage's coffin before a final goodbye was said to the man. Hayate appeared at Yuzuki's arm and began to lead her through the crowd. She reached forward and grabbed onto the back of his shirt. He blinked and looked down at her and noted her expression. They met up with Genma and he seemed to realize what her expression meant, it probably hit a bit close to home. He ruffled her hair, messing the longs locks up, and they began to head to his apartment.

Her home had been destroyed by a giant snake and then completely reduced to rubble by a giant toad.

Genma felt a small hand grab his and he looked down to see her staring at the ground. He sighed at that and realized that she was looking for a similar comfort that she had been able to give to Konohamaru. He held her hand back and a small thankful smile appeared on her face.

"You need more sleep," He informed her.

"Right," She softly agreed.

Hayate let out a soft breath at that and looked up toward the grey sky, there was some sun peeking through, but it was slowly being covered again. It was going to start raining again. He heard a snuffling sound and looked down at the ball of fluff that sat on Yuzuki's shoulder. An Inuzuka had looked at it and decided that it was a female wolf pup, which seemed to have a genetic mutation of two tails. He felt bad for the pup, he knew how the village was going to react to it.

"I'm thinking beef for dinner," Genma said.

"We had beef yesterday," He countered, "Why not pork with some vegetables."

"You drive a hard bargain, Hayate."

"Shut up Genma."

He watched as an amused smile appeared in Yuzuki's face and he couldn't help but think things were going to get better.


	23. Announcement

I'm writing this now so you all understand. Hayate and Yuzuki won't be anywhere close to getting together until she's in her twenties. He has no romantic feelings at this moment and she's just that weird preteen that has a crush on her teacher. He just sees her as his student and friend at this point. I don't condone child adult relationships and I apologize if that's how I came across. It was not my intention. This is to let everyone know this. I might take sometime away from this fic for a break. I will start up another fic during this time. I am unsure if I will continue this one due to how it seems to be forming.


	24. Chapter 23

**I took a couple days for my break and have gotten my mojo back, I wasn't able to start on my next fic as I was having trouble trying to stop inspiration from Madoka Magica and Houseki no Kuni from showing in it. I want to say thank you all for the words of encouragement and understanding that you sent my way. I hope you all continue to stay by me as I write this story. I also wanted to spend some time during the fourth of July with my family. Now that the holiday is over I am able to post this chapter that was written while I was working on the rough outline for this story. It is open to changes if I find that something doesn't work or doesn't sound right, and I do accept constructive criticism, I just need time to work around it and think about it. **

**Thank you all. Also, stay safe out there!**

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23

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"Hide me."

Hayate looked towards a flustered Yuzuki as she tried to find a place to hide away from Ino. She was staying with Genma, who lived in the apartment on the other side of the complex, but had wormed her way inside and was looking up at him from the floor. She had crawled through his window and slammed onto the hardwood. She didn't seem too bothered by that fact as she looked up with a blank face.

"It can't be that bad," He said.

"She wants to find me a dress, Hayate," She huffed in slight amusement, "I don't even have the right temperament for a dress, why does a woman even need one?"

Ah, so she was that unknowledgeable about women's fashion. He supposed that carried over from her previous life where she had worn clothing that was traditionally masculine. He watched as she tried to get up but was having trouble with her arm. He knew she was a bit annoyed that they didn't heal her shoulder like his, but understood it was because she was a genin. She wasn't needed for the active roster. He shook his head and easily picked her up. She gave him a look as he set her on her feet, she was getting a bit annoyed at him as well. She didn't like to be manhandled.

"Just go and spend time with her, she's worried about you," He told her.

She sent him a look at that before he shooed her out of his apartment and into her cousin. Ino looked like she had expected such behavior out of the other girl and was waiting for her. He caught the slightly betrayed look on the preteen's face before closing the door. He stretched slightly and went back to his dinner table; he had a few scrolls he needed to read and then put in a storage scroll for her. He needed the time to do so.

He felt as though he wasn't going to be seeing her for a while, and he didn't know why.

"You have the right skin shade for mute colors, but you look weird in turtle necks," Ino said as she dragged the girl behind her, "Hinata's going to help me find something that'll work with your body type and coloring."

"It seems as though Inoichi-san taught you new torture tactics," Yuzuki teased.

"Shut up, besides, we still have to cut your hair," Ino huffed.

Honestly, Yuzuki had forgotten about that. She winced as the blonde jostled her hurt arm and got a soft apology in response. She simply waved it off, it wasn't done on purpose. She smiled at the appearance of her dark-haired cousin. Hinata was waiting for them in civilian clothing that consisted of long-sleeved shirt and capris, all Chinese styled.

"Are you sure she'll be able to try clothes on with her arm hurt?" Hinata softly asked Ino.

"Yeah, besides, thing's like shirt's will be a on the large side so they won't become too small," Ino nodded, "I was thinking of a hoodie like the one you and Kiba wear."

"Fur would look horrible on me," Yuzuki piped up, "Tried it once, and it didn't look right."

The small ball of fluff on her person let out a bark in agreement. Hinata looked at it for a few seconds before holding her hands out. She was rewarded with it jumping onto her and licking her face. Ino stared at it before bringing a hand up and running it through the floof.

"What the hell is it?" Ino asked.

"It's an Ookami pup," Yuzuki answered, "Her name's Kaede, she's a bit like one of Inuzuka dogs but bigger and more dangerous."

"Have you seen some of the Inuzuka dogs?" Ino questioned as she wondered why she had named the Ookami _maple leaf_.

"Yeah, have you seen Lupa-hime?" Yuzuki questioned as they went into a salon.

She was getting her hair cut first so they could see what the clothes would look like with her hair shorter. The woman that was waiting for a customer took one look at the long dirty-blonde hair and hurried the girl into the chair. Being given a _do what you want_ was her favorite thing. She wet the hair down and parted it right down the middle to see what she could do.

The hair had a natural part to it that caused a lot of it to fall over her eye. She pinned it back and began to chop at the long locks. Within minutes the floor was covered in light colored hair. Ino and Hinata watched as it was cut to barely touch her shoulders and framed her face, bangs rested across her forehead and revealed both of her eyes. It made her look happier. Yuzuki paid for the haircut and the group left the salon.

"I like it better short," Ino commented, "I know I said it was pretty long, but it looks right short."

"Thank you," Yuzuki said with a slightly amused tone, "But this isn't over yet."

Hinata smiled at the two as she pulled them into a store. It was something where both of them would find items. She looked at some of the shirts for sale and moved away from the style she wore. Yuzuki hadn't worn such clothes since she was young, she stuck with clothes that were foreign in style.

"This one," Ino said as she pulled a hoodie out of a pile.

It was black with a navy interior. It was soft inside, but rough on the outside. She tossed it towards Yuzuki and Kaede sniffed at it before sniffing in approval. Well, at least she approved of the shorter blonde's sense of fashion. Yuzuki put the hoodie over her good arm and followed the two with a look of contentment. Hayate was right, it wasn't that bad.

She caught a shirt tossed her way and did the same, she ducked before another one pelted her in the head. Ino paused after tossing the shirt and noticed the way that the taller girl tensed before taking a deep breath. She almost looked like she did during the battle. She shook her head and sent the blonde a smile.

"What about a dress?" Hinata quietly questioned, "We did say she was going to get one, yes?"

"Oh, it'll be hard since her legs are so long," Ino muttered before her eyes quickly looked around for a dress that would fit the girl.

Yuzuki sighed as she waved to her cousins before heading back to Genma's apartment. She needed to get all her clothes washed and take a shower. She ran a hand down her face as Kaede looked around on her shoulder. She was still tired from the battle a few days ago. Her chakra was back to normal, but she noticed that she had more of it now. She'd have to start training with the leaf technique when she got the all clear from the hospital.

"Just how many clothes did you three pick up?" Genma questioned as she entered the apartment.

"Too many," She replied as she knelt so Kaede could jump down from her shoulder, "Everything going okay?"

"Yeah, the council is trying to figure out who the next hokage is," He replied as she moved into the kitchen to remove any tags from her clothing, "I think they decided on Tsunade-hime."

"I wish them luck with that," She sounded vaguely amused, "Tsunade-hime won't return unless she's given a damn good reason."

Genma couldn't help but agree with her on that one. He had seen the blonde sannin when Yuzuki was training on her own. She seemed thoughtful, but he knew better than to walk up to her and ask her to return to the village. It wasn't worth the threat of bodily harm. He was brought out of his thoughts by the hoodie she brought out.

"Heh, that takes me back," He chuckled, "I had one just like it as a kid, granted the inside was red."

"We're the village hidden in the _leaf_, why does everyone wear so much red?" She asked as her eyebrow twitched.

He gave a shrug. He had thought that the color was cool, he'd never tell her about the choker. He wouldn't be able to live that down if she learned about it. She watched as she got up and grabbed all the clothes with her single arm and went to start a load of laundry. She never needed to be asked to do something to help out, and he ended up with clean clothes. He felt bad that she was doing it with a hurt arm.

"You don't have to do the laundry, you know," He informed her.

"I know, but it's not that difficult and it gives me something to do," She smiled.

She gave a yawn and he knew that she was going to head back to sleep after taking a shower. He ruffled the shorter strands of hair as she passed and she barely reacted to it. She just shot him a look before shuffling towards her room. He waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom to get up and make some lunch. He was going to make sure she ate something before going to sleep.

When she came out she had a towel on her head to keep her hair from dripping onto her pajamas. He ushered her to the table and gave her a bowl of fruit. She was eating slowly, and he sighed quietly. She needed medical attention that she was being denied due to being a genin. He had a feeling that if he were to gather all the chuunin and jonin she had helped and asked them to tell the hospital to heal her with chakra, they'd do it. He knew that she would never allow it, she didn't want the special treatment.

"Get some sleep all right, kiddo," Genma told her as she got up and took care of her bowl.

She gave him a small nod before moving to her room, Kaede following behind her. It was quiet as Genma sat there, waiting for a hawk. He needed to know if he was needed or not, all jonin were on edge and torture and interrogation were understaffed for the number of prisoners they had received from the invasion. He ran a hand down his face and wondered how it got to this point.

How did they end up on the cusp of war? Hayate had worked hard enough to let the village know that something was going to happen, without putting himself and the kid in danger. Yet, the invasion still happened. Sure, they were prepared for it but still. Quite a few shinobi had died that day, and they lost their leader. Konoha was going to have trouble recovering from it, but they would eventually. Nothing really kept the village down for long, not even the Kyuubi attack.

He scratched the back of his head before moving to the washing machine and putting the now clean clothes into the dryer. He paused at the hoodie and let a smirk appear on his face, she was starting to follow his footsteps without realizing it. Granted, she was going into torture and interrogation. Even if she had been moving away from it, she knew that she was best suited for that type of work.

He started the dryer and went to find something to do while waiting. He could catch up on his reading while he waited. He had a fantasy novel that was just calling out to him. He was drawn from those thoughts as a loud screech came from outside. Well, that novel was going to have to wait. He had more important matters to attend to. He gave a quiet sigh before looking around for a piece of paper and a pen. He found some and scribbled a note to the kid. He doubted that she'd be up by the time he finished, but he liked being sure.

He left and not even two minutes later a head poked out from behind a door. Kaede was still awake and had been waiting for the older male to leave. She wanted to find something for her kunoichi to do when she woke up. She couldn't train with her, but she could still read. Her tails began to wag as she thought about taking a walk with her. She shook her body and looked around before her tails drooped. There wasn't anything around for her kunoichi to do. She fumbled back into the room her kunoichi slept in and climbed into the bed with the lanky preteen. A small hand found its way into her fur and she was brought close to the sleeping girl, like she was some kind of plushie.

A day later saw a very disoriented Yuzuki walking around the apartment looking for Genma. She stumbled into the dining area and found the note he left for her. She scratched the back of her head before moving to get her clean laundry. She was a bit upset that she didn't get the chance to put it away while it was warm, the smell of clothes fresh out of the dryer was one of the best things in the world in her opinion. She was brought out of her thoughts by something tugging on her pajama shirt.

"What's wrong, Kaede?" She mumbled as she held onto her pile of clothes.

She got a bark in response and she tilted her head in thought. She had somewhat understood that. She needed to see what the scroll that Makoto gave her said. She felt as though there was some information in it that would help her understand what she was supposed to do with the little Ookami pup.

"Do…Do you want to go for a walk?" She asked with a slight frown.

Kaede jumped onto her legs and she let out a soft chuckle before moving her dry clothes to her room and putting them away. She left out a mesh undershirt, a black t-shirt, her hoodie, and a pair of pants. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and put on her kunai pouch and swords. Her arm let out a twinge of pain and she flinched from the sudden feeling. She was a bit mad at the hospital for not healing her completely, but she understood that they were just understaffed. Few shinobi wanted to be medic-nins, she had been guilty of the same thing.

"Right, let's go and enjoy the day," She told Kaede as she opened the apartment door.

The Ookami pup ran out and down the steps. She shook her head as she closed the door and locked it. She hurried after the small pup, her hand in her pocket. A few of the villagers whispered at the two tailed pup and she shot them all looks. They went back to rebuilding and she sighed. That stupid stigma against multiple tailed animals was something she'd never understand. Sure, one destroyed the village, but would it not be better to try and make friends with one?

She waved to the sensei of Ino's team and the sensei of Hinata's team. The woman seemed surprised as the tall male gave a short wave of greeting back, he seemed amused that she would greet them. She felt slightly amused at the two, they were on a date. They were trying to act as though they weren't on a date, but they were horrible at it. She wished them luck.

"Ah, Kaede," Yuzuki called as the pup rushed ahead, "Don't go too far."

She got a yip in response and she huffed as she rushed to catch up with the small animal. She let out a soft sigh as they reached a training ground that hadn't been destroyed by the invasion. No one was using it at the moment, few shinobi were training. Too many missions within the village were making it impossible to fit in training.

"You can run around the training ground to burn some of your energy," Yuzuki informed the pup as she plopped down under a tree and pulled the Ookami scroll from her kunai pouch, "I'll be here reading the scroll that Makoto-chan gave me."

Kaede gave her an affirmative bark and then began to run around. Yuzuki watched for a few seconds before rolling open the scroll with a hand. She began to read, and the corners of her lips tugged downwards as she tried to digest the information of the scroll. It told of what happened to those that ended up with an Ookami pup, the canines fell out and grew back longer, one could understand the pup, and eventually they could pull off jutsu's with one another. It reminded her of the Inuzuka, and she began to wonder if that's how the clan got started.

Just what had Yamanaka Ryu been trying to accomplish by using the Ookami summons. If she could summon any of the Ookami she would ask them what the hell he had been doing. She closed the scroll and bit her lip in thought as she tapped the scroll against her thigh. She wondered if her biological father in this life had been doing something he shouldn't have.

"Ack, Kaede!" She exclaimed when the Ookami pup barreled into her and knocked her onto her back.

She barely kept in a cry at the pain that went through her shoulder. She was really starting to hate the hospital. Her dislocated shoulder was still damaged, more than they originally assumed. The muscle had been torn, and would take a while to heal without the help of iryo-jutsu. Kaede sitting on her stomach while she tried to ignore the pain made her pull a face.

"That hurt y'know," She grumbled at the pup.

She got a lick to her face for it. She huffed and slowly sat up, and began to pull sticks from her hair. She wasn't even rolling on the ground and she ended up with foliage in her hair. That was her luck though. She paused when a sudden shiver went down her spine.

She had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. She slowly got up to her feet as Kaede let out a soft whimper and hid inside the hoodie. Apparently she wasn't the only one. She put her hand on the pups head and tried to comfort her.

"What the hell is going on?" She muttered.

She left the training grounds and decided to head to the library. She could use the time she was injured to study up on some iryo-jutsu and genjutsu. There wasn't any harm in learning, she just wouldn't be able to practice for a while. She let out a sigh and watched people run by her with wood beams on their shoulders.

"Yamanaka-san!" She blinked and paused at the sound of her name being called.

"Oh, Lee-san," She greeted, "Are you feeling any better?"

"To a certain extent, Yamanaka-San," he nodded, but she tilted her head.

He looked exhausted. She felt bad for him. He deserved better than what had happened.

"Please call me Yuzuki," she said, "I'm glad your up and about, you haven't been training have you?"

He let out a sheepish chuckle at that and she pinched the bridge of her nose. What was it with men and not following orders when it came to their health? Still, a smile did appear on her face. It sounded about right. He was just like Might Gai in that sense.

"Where were you heading, Yuzuki-Chan?" Lee asked her.

"I was heading to the library," She answered, "I haven't been cleared by a medic-nin to return to duty, and they told me not to use my chakra…I thought that some studying was in order."

"Why can't you use your chakra?" He asked her.

"Because flooding the paths in my arm could cause it to heal wrong," She answered, "The muscles were torn inside, and though chakra helps us heal faster, overloading the system while the body is still damaged could make it worse."

"Are you interested in becoming a medical nin?" He asked her in surprise.

"Ah, no I wanted to go into torture and interrogation," She replied as she scratched the back of her head in a sheepish manner, "Having some medical knowledge is always handy, I think Tsunade-Hime wanted to make sure everyone on a squad could do simple iryo-jutsus so the number of fatalities would lower."

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. He could see how that would work. Someone like Yuzuki or Neji could learn iryo due to their chakra control and would be an asset to whatever team they ended up on during missions. He began to walk, and she fell in step with him. He had no problem walking her to the library, though he knew that she was more than capable of handling herself even while injured. She didn't say anything about the fact that it would take her a bit longer to get there due to his injuries.

"I hear that you helped with the battle," He commented.

"Yeah, I saw you in the stands," She nodded, "But Gai-sensei might've had an issue with me if I had woken you up, the enemy shinobi were targeting anything that moved."

He gave a light chuckle at that. It did sound like his sensei. She was one of the few people that took the man seriously and he wondered why that was. Most of the genin her age and a few his age thought he was a goof ball.

"You are one of the few people that respect Gai-sensei, why is that?" He asked.

"Lee, I have a few specialized taijutsu in my repertoire," She smiled, "It took me years to master them and then to be able to put them into use, the fact that the two of you have specialized in such a field is amazing."

That both answered and didn't answer his question. So, she respected them because she knew how much work went into learning new taijutsu styles. He smiled slightly at that and waved as she broke off from him and headed into the library. He continued on his way to the hospital for his physical therapy.

"Hey there, squirt."

Yuzuki brightened up at the sight of Mai. The jonin was manning the library to make sure that everyone that came in was from Konoha. She found that she had liked working with the older woman, who reminded her of someone that she couldn't fit a face or name to. Ah, that was to be expected.

"I thought that you'd be enjoying your time off, not sitting in a dusty library," Mai stated as she leaned against the receptionist counter.

"This is enjoying my time off," Yuzuki said, "I like to read, and learning about new techniques is interesting."

"You sound like such an old lady," Mai teased.

Yuzuki gave her a small smile before heading towards the iryo section. It was the smallest section of the library, so it would be the fastest for her to go through. She pulled a few scrolls off the shelves and moved towards a small alcove where she wouldn't be bothered. She sat down and Kaede poked her head out of the hoodie and tucked hers against Yuzuki's chin.

It was nice, reading with a small animal sleeping on your chest. Yuzuki made a mental note to put her in her hoodie more often if she got to cuddle with the small animal. She quickly shook herself from those thoughts and began to read the scroll. Upon finishing the scroll, she read it two more times to make sure that she had it memorized.

Well, the chakra control aspects of it was easy to memorize. The Hyuuga used the same techniques to teach their children how to use juken. The aspects dealing with the body itself, well she could just use Genma and Hayate to make sure that she had the right areas down. Though, she would like to get instruction at the hospital before testing out any techniques on the two. She ran a hand through her hair as she finished another scroll.

"The human body is fucking weird, Kaede," She mumbled to the pup as she closed the scroll and grabbed another.

She didn't get a response from the small animal and she gave a tiny smile at the tiny snores coming from her. She didn't even know that animals could snore, it was a nice little fact to learn. She gave the pup a small kiss to the head before returning to her reading. She burned through the rest of the iryo scrolls when she heard someone walking towards her. She looked up, her hand twitching towards her kunai pouch, before relaxing slightly at the sight of Genma.

"How many scrolls did you go through?" He asked as he looked at the pile in front of her.

"All of them, iryo information has the smallest section in the library," She answered as she closed the last scroll, "It's easy to go through so many scrolls when there aren't that many."

"How fast can you read?" He questioned, "There's twenty-five scrolls here."

"I'm a speed reader," She answered as she slowly got up and gathered the scrolls, "I pick out the most important words and terms the first time reading and then read the rest the second and third."

"That way the most vital information is retained, that has to be Iruka's teaching coming through," He muttered.

"That is partially it," She admitted, "But have you never watched me read a regular book?"

He had, and it was terrifying. He watched her finish a rather thick book in two hours, the fact that she finished twenty-five scrolls was nothing compared to that book. He waited for her to finish putting everything away before they went to get some groceries so they would have something to eat.

"I was thinking of pumpkin soup," He informed her, "That sound good?"

"What the hell is pumpkin soup?" She asked him with a frown.

Well, he was just going to have to show her. She noted the glint in his eyes and felt like she had just issued him a challenge. She sighed at that before smiling slightly, it was nice to see that he was still so lively.

She blinked at the way he prepared pumpkin soup. It reminded her of the way that pumpkin pie was made, but instead of a pumpkin custard it was a soup. She frowned slightly and wondered if he would like pumpkin pie as well, it did have several ingredients that were different, but her recipe always made sure that the pumpkin taste would still be there.

"Would you be willing to try pumpkin pie?" She asked him as he stirred their dinner.

"I'm willing to try anything with pumpkin in it," He answered without a second thought.

Well, it was far too easy to get him to agree to that. She didn't even glance at him as she went to give Kaede some of the meat she picked up for the small pup. She didn't think that dog food would work for an ookami. She wasn't willing to get her sick.

"She must've been hungry," Genma commented as the meat was quickly eaten.

"Well, she probably hasn't eaten since I first woke up," Yuzuki quietly admitted, "You need to let me know when you need to eat, Kaede."

"Why maple leaf?" He asked.

"She had a small maple leaf shape on the top of her head," She answered.

She picked up the pup and walked over to him. He looked at the head and realized that there was indeed a small patch of fur that was shaped like a maple leaf. He barely kept in the chuckle at the way she named the pup, it was such an on the nose name.

"Right, let's eat," He said as he got everything ready.

She smiled at that and took a seat at the table. They had a quiet dinner together as he didn't know if he was going to be called back to patrol the village or do anything else for the council elders. He made sure not to let anything show on his face as he thought back to a certain old man. They were right to be weary of Danzo, the man had brought her up right in front of him.

He said it was a shame that a child from two prestigious clans was left homeless after the attack. Genma had made sure to dash that man's claim before anyone on the council could try and dictate where she would go. She was _his _kid and he'd be damned if Danzo got his hands on her. He'd find himself on the other end of one of his senbon.

"Have you thought of anyway to use your tachi with your chakra?" He asked her.

"Yeah, one of my natures is lightning," She said as she scratched the back of her head, "Kakashi was able to teach me how to mold it onto a kunai, I was thinking of refining that technique so there wouldn't be any chakra waste."

"Are your weapons sharp enough?" He asked her and she blinked at that.

"I have around a hundred senbon that are all sharp enough to go through a man's eye," She answered, "And twenty kunai just as sharp, I need to go through and sharpen the rest of my weaponry…I was planning to do that tomorrow."

"Library today, sharpening weapons tomorrow," He said, "Are you going to do that every day this week?"

"I have a limited amount of weapons I can sharpen," She replied in amusement, "I was going to spend some time with Ino and Hinata before going to the hospital to see if they might heal my arm."

He had a feeling that she'd be turned away as unimportant. He really hoped that Tsunade agreed to come back so that the hospital would run as it should. He knew that the service and skill of the hospital had gone downhill since the Senju left. They needed someone like the blonde who would threaten them with bodily harm if they were to slip in their abilities, or someone who would scare them into submission like Anko. There was a reason that, though everyone thought her insane, she was followed without a second thought.

"I wait to see what Tsunade-hime will do to the hospital," He said, and she tilted her head at that.

"They've gone downhill since she was last in the village, if you were a genin when I was you'd have been healed and sent back onto the active roster," He explained.

She didn't want to think about why that would be. He was a genin and chuunin during a war, of course the hospital would be running at full capacity. They only went downhill since so many medic-nins weren't needed. She didn't want to go through another war, but she felt that it was inevitable.

She wasn't looking forward to such a thing, not while she was still young.


	25. Chapter 24

**I live near a military base so the fourth of July is heavily celebrated here…I'm going to be hearing fireworks until September with how many people buy them, I also live in a desert so there's the slight worry of a fire. I'm not too concerned since this happens every year on the fourth and on new years (though new year's lasts until early March). With that said, I hope everyone had a wonderful fourth! I also changed the cover…again…I do like this last one more than the other and I believe this one is here to stay. Hopefully.**

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24

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"I don't think that's right, Ino," Yuzuki sighed.

Ino pouted slightly at that before fixing her posture and trying again. She was trying to get one of the mind jutsu's down, but it was difficult. She was using Yuzuki, who was glad to have something to do that got her out of the apartment and library for a while, to test the jutsu she was learning. She wanted to expand her abilities with her clan's jutsus.

"Try to gather your chakra in the frontal lobe," Yuzuki explained, "It's safer to use less than more."

"How do you do this so effortlessly?" Ino asked with a frown as she slowly gathered up a small amount of chakra to the frontal lobe of her brain.

"Practice, believe me you'll get it down," She answered.

Ino relaxed a bit after that and focused on releasing the chakra in her lobe with the proper hand signs. She was welcomed to a soft sound before it died out. It had worked, but not as long as it should've. She opened her eyes and saw Yuzuki giving her a smile. Kaede was sitting next to her, watching her tails twitching. Yuzuki's nose twitched and her head tilted in thought.

"I think we've done enough for today, let me try to formulate what went wrong before trying again," Ino said with a slight frown before a small smile appeared on her face, "Besides, I think Genma want's to talk to you."

Yuzuki nodded at that and turned towards the scent that belonged to Genma. The man somehow smelled of pumpkin and the ocean. It was a weird combination that was completely him. He had a grim look on his face, but there was a spark in his eyes that got her attention. That was a good sign.

"Come with me, kiddo," He said as he chewed on his senbon.

"Right," She nodded at him before turning to Ino, "Same time tomorrow?"

"No, I think it might take me longer than that, I'll see if dad has any advice," Ino shook her head, "Try to enjoy your time off, you ume."

"See you, Bellflower," She grinned in response.

Genma shook his head in slight amusement as Yuzuki walked up to him with Kaede in her arm. She followed him as they began to head towards the Hokage monument. She didn't know what was going on and she wasn't about to ask. She had a feeling it was important.

"You're not even going to ask?" Genma questioned her.

"Would you tell me if I did?" She shot back.

"Yeah," He raised a brow at her and watched as her expression became one of surprise before a tiny smile appeared on her face.

"Okay, why did you need me?" She questioned, "Wherever your needed, you probably don't need me."

"Let's just say that someone wanted to say hi to you."

The glare she gave him was worth messing with her. He brought a hand up and ruffled her hair, she was so used to the affectionate action that she barely reacted to it negatively anymore. There wasn't any annoyance or teenage angst showing at receiving affection from a parent, he knew that not all kids were like that.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you enjoyed having your hair ruffled," He informed her and he watched as her shoulders tensed as a surprised expression appeared on her face.

"I probably do," She muttered, "Weird, I don't get annoyed any more do I."

She hadn't even noticed it. He sighed in amusement at that fact. Leave it to her to not even be aware of a changing behavior in herself. She brought a hand through Kaede's fur and a smile appeared on her face. He could see the small nubs of growing teeth on her gums. At least she'd soon have her canines back.

"Oh, Tsunade-hime finally came back," Yuzuki said as they finally made it to the monument, "Did they send Naruto?"

"Why'd you automatically assume Naruto had something to do with it?" Genma questioned as he frowned.

"Naruto has the ability to talk someone into changing their beliefs," She said with a shrug, "Like I said, he's charismatic but no one should ever tell him least he loses that ability."

"That's fair," He muttered in agreement as he held a hand up to stop her.

She paused in her tracks and watched as he went to take a stance next to a man with spikey black hair and glasses. She noted Naruto in the area and the blonde looked at her with a surprised expression. She sent him a smile and he grinned back in response. He then glared at something that Jiraiya said. She didn't want to know what was said.

"Well, then let's gather the local lords and celebrate the inauguration of the Godaime," Koharu Utatae announced before turning towards Genma and the man he was standing next to, "Genma, Aoba, announce this to the village."

"Right!" Both men said in unison.

"Wait, Tsunade-Obaa-san has some stuff to take care of first," Naruto told them and Genma barely held back his smirk at the kid's audacity.

"That's right, I did promise," Tsunade sighed, "So, who were they again?"

"I already told you during the trip home," Jiraiya sighed, "That brat Kakashi, the Uchiha kid, and Gai's student Lee."

"Oh, and add Yuzuki-chan to that list!" Naruto piped up and Tsunade looked to see the girl she had met a month ago.

"Always pushing yourself too far," Tsunade sighed as she stepped up to the shorter girl, "What'd you do this time?"

"Fought during the oto and suna invasion," Yuzuki replied as the woman's hands began to glow green due to the chakra she was using.

Tsunade didn't say anything, but the slight downwards turn of her lips said enough. The blonde Senju seemed to care about the genin in front of her, Yuzuki did have that affect on people. She was a bit like Naruto in that aspect where they could both worm themselves into good relationships with people that weren't their rivals.

"You did a number on this arm," Tsunade informed the girl, "Why hasn't this been healed yet?"

"I kept going to the hospital and asking if they would, but as a genin I wasn't deemed as vital as one of the chuunin and jonin," Yuzuki replied as she winced at the stiff feeling in her arm as it was healed, "It's all right, I get it, they are understaffed."

Oh, Genma adored his kid. She was able to push blame onto the hospital and still make it easy on them. If that wasn't manipulation he didn't know what was. He watched as Tsunade gained a tick to her forehead at the girl's words and put her hand on her shoulder. She moved the arm out of its sling and gently rotated it to make sure everything was as it should be.

"Please tell me I can finally use chakra again," Yuzuki quietly said, "I'd like to be able to help when training with my cousins."

"You can use our chakra again," Tsunade told her and she got a large smile in response.

This was the same kid that had been so sullen back when she met her. That girl had been confused and this girl was lighter and happier. Honey colored eyes slowly moved to the side as the older woman eyed the jonin that was responsible for that change. Her _father_, she'd make sure that man always had guardianship over her while she was hokage. No way in hell was she going to allow the council to get their hands on the kid.

"Can I ask you a few questions about iryo-jutsus?" Yuzuki asked her and she blinked in surprise.

"Ask away," Tsunade smiled.

"When performing the mystic palm technique do you keep a steady flow of chakra or is it a bit like water walking and you need to make it inconsistent for different points of the body?" Yuzuki questioned, "The scroll I read didn't go into depths about that."

"You read all the scrolls in the library, didn't you?" Tsunade sighed in amusement and she got a nod in response, "You keep it consistent unless you need the extra chakra to quickly heal the wounds."

"Oh, that makes sense," Yuzuki said as she scratched her cheek in thought, "The worser the wound the more chakra that's needed."

"You thinking about becoming a medical-nin?" Tsunade asked.

"I'd like to help out at the hospital when needed," Yuzuki answered and Tsunade could hear the but, "But I've been working towards torture and interrogation for so long that it would make everything I've done meaningless, so I would still like to intern as an interrogator and put my genjutsu skills to the test."

"You can still learn iryo-jutsu from a fellow shinobi," Tsunade said with a slight smirk.

"Maybe in the future," Yuzuki shook her head.

Tsunade seemed surprised at that before a genuine smile appeared on her face. She might be looking at a prospective apprentice in the future. Hell, if there was another girl with the aptitude for chakra control she might take on two. It had been so long since she had taught a fresh mind in the art of medicine, Shizune had quickly grown under her teachings and she somewhat missed having a young student to terrorize.

"Right, I want to see you in my office," Tsunade said and Yuzuki blinked in confusion while Tsunade turned to Naruto, "Before I heal those I promised to heal, I need to do something."

"Will it take long?" Naruto questioned.

"Less than half an hour," Tsunade informed him, "In the meantime go and get something to eat."

Naruto gave her a look and Tsunade knew that she wouldn't get out of healing those she promise, not that she would go back on her word to help them, and she turned towards the still confused Yamanaka. It was taking the girl a while to digest what she had been told and why. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder and began to steer her towards the office, while Genma followed behind with a slight grin on his face. They came across Shikamaru on their way to the Hokage's office, Naruto following behind them.

"Oh, Yuzuki, Naruto, what are you two doing here?" Shikamaru asked as he slouched slightly.

"Genma brought me here, but Tsunade-sama asked me to go to her office," Yuzuki quietly replied.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Naruto informed the taller boy, "The only building around here is ninja administration."

"I'm just here taking care of some annoying business," Shikamaru replied and he saw the understanding look in Yuzuki's eyes.

"Oh, Shikamaru!" Ino's voice rang out and Naruto blinked in surprise.

"You too, huh?" Shikamaru muttered as Yuzuki brightened at the sight of her cousin.

Inoichi stood behind his daughter and he was standing straight with pride. He looked over to see Yuzuki and gave her a nod as well. He noticed Genma standing behind the taller preteen and raised a brow. He didn't know if the rumors about the man taking in one of his clan had been true or not, but he now had proof. He wasn't going to stop the man anytime soon, he trusted Genma not to mess up with her.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama," Shikaku Naru greeted the two Sannin with a slight bow.

"Oh, you must be the Nara clan head," Tsunade said as she put a hand on her hip, "Are you taking care of your deer? Their antlers make good medicine."

"Yes, Ma'am," Shikaku nodded.

"So, who's the young woman with a big attitude?" Shikamaru asked Naruto and Yuzuki as Ino joined them.

"Thats Senju Tsunade, the Godaime," Yuzuki replied.

"Oh, she's one of the best medics in the world," Ino added, "Weren't you interested in learning iryo-jutsu, Yuzuki?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to take the spot of apprentice from someone else who needs it," Yuzuki quietly said.

Ino blinked and instantly knew the other girl was talking about Sakura. She would stand down from such an opportunity for a girl who thought she was a monster; she didn't get her cousin sometimes. The other girl had nothing to prove and should go for it. She was about to tell her so when she saw the look that Shikamaru was giving the taller girl, he looked as though her understood what she was doing.

"Sometimes you don't get enough credit," Shikamaru told the other girl as Naruto was shooed away by Tsunade.

"I don't crave credit," She shrugged, "So why should I need it?"

There it was, the same Yuzuki he was used to. As much as he enjoyed the more emotional and conversational Yuzuki he could deal with the shinobi Yuzuki who knew how to mess with people and push them to do things that changed them for the better. If she could push Sakura into an apprenticeship with the sannin then there would be no need for a rival. She was showing an interest in iryo, not just to make sure she could heal her teammates, but to push Sakura towards a career that she would flourish in.

"You just don't want her around in torture and interrogation," Shikamaru commented.

"Ah, I am guilty of that as well," She chuckled, "But I have time where she won't be able to join and thus she'll seek out the strongest kunoichi to teach her."

"You read her like a book, didn't you," He sighed, and she winked at him.

They entered the Hokage's office and Tsunade took a seat behind the desk as the three genin stood at attention with their guardians behind them. They all looked the battle-ready soldiers that they had shown themselves to be during the invasion. She opened a folder before her and quickly read through it.

"Since the chuunin exams ended with an invasion I would usually tell everyone to try again next time and declare it null," Tsunade informed them, "But several lords and fellow shinobi came forward to recommend all three of you for advancement."

She stared them all down and they didn't even flinch. They had a taste of battle and knew when to show fear and when to show their opponent nothing. She connected her hands together in front of her and continued her staring at them.

"Yamanaka Ino, Yamanaka Yuzuki, Nara Shikamaru," Tsunade said their names, "You not only showed initiative to find an officer of higher rank than you for orders, you helped to evacuate citizens, wake fellow shinobi, and stayed to fight to make sure the invaders wouldn't win. For that Konoha recognizes you as Chuunin. You are now permitted to take B-rank missions as squad leaders and A-rank missions as squad members. Congratulations."

They bowed in respect to her and accepted their flak jackets from their guardians. Genma ruffled Yuzuki's hair and she grinned up at him. Tsunade almost wanted to keep the girl back to show her how to perform an Iryo-jutsu so she could gage the girls aptitude, but noted the way she interacted with Genma. The two wanted to go out and celebrate her promotion, and she understood that.

"You are all dismissed, go and celebrate before your first missions as chuunin," She told them.

"Understood, Hokage-sama," The three Chuunin said in unison.

She could get used to that. She watched as they all broke off to go celebrate in their own way. Genma was going to take Yuzuki for dango before she went to turn in her application for torture and interrogation. Inoichi was going to go celebrate with Shikaku while his daughter and son went to celebrate with their team.

"Congratulations on your promotion," Hayate informed the preteen as he met up with Genma and Yuzuki at her favorite dango stand.

She simply gave him a closed mouth smile before turning back to the paper in front of her. It was obvious that she was filling out an application form for one of the careers that chuunin could go into. She chewed in a senbon in her mouth as she reread something before writing something down. He sat down and Kaede looked at him from her spot inside the chuunin's flack jacket. She had already found space for the pup in her new clothing, which was just like her.

"I'd go and turn in your application before three," Genma informed Yuzuki, "They don't like paperwork after that time."

"I can't blame them," She chuckled, "Well, then I'm off."

She hurried off to go and turn in the finished application. Genma shook his head in amusement before paying for the dango the two had eaten and the drinks they had. Hayate took note that it was the dango with strawberries in it and a cup of iced matcha, her favorites. He remembered his time as a chuunin, things got hectic. You got busy, and it only slowed down after he became a jonin. She was going to juggle torture and interrogation while under Anko's tutelage, they weren't going to see her that much. If she ended up apprenticing under Tsunade then they would see her even less.

No wonder Genma had treated her to her favorite snack and drink.

"Hey there, brat," Anko greeted the panting chuunin, "I see you finally became a chuunin."

"Hello, Anko-senpai," Yuzuki greeted as she gave her application to the chuunin that ran the counter for the department, "You doing all right?"

Anko gave the kid a grin and turned to the chuunin behind the counter. She held a hand out for the form. The moment the paper was in her hand she had grabbed the newly promoted chuunin by her flak jacket and dragged her through the building. They went down as they moved through the corridors. Yuzuki had no clue where she was being dragged, but she was just enjoying the ride. Anko was fond of her, at least she hoped she was, and wouldn't do anything outside of maiming her. She blinked in surprise when the purple haired Kunoichi kicked a door open.

"Ibiki, she's here," Anko announced.

"Must you kick my door?" Ibiki questioned without looking up from his paperwork.

"I need my kohai," Anko informed him with a manic grin, "She can start working right away, we have plenty of prisoners for newbies."

Ibiki finally looked up at that and he saw a slightly hassled Yuzuki wave at him. He sighed in response and he almost felt bad for the girl, almost. She shouldn't have caught Anko's attention if she didn't want to be dragged around like she had.

"I see," He said as he took the application from Anko and read over it, "You specialized in genjutsu and kenjutsu, you'd be a fine fit for the hunting corps."

"I'd get bored," She admitted, "The same thing each and every time does not appeal to me, sir."

"What makes you think this'll be different?" he questioned.

"Well, the human mind can be fucked with in so many different ways," She said and he looked at her as Anko's grin grew, "Let's say that I go into the room with the prisoner, a genjutsu already active and masking the fact that someone was inside, and start to take away his hearing and make the walls grow closer. How long do you think someone can handle mental torture like that?"

"Anko, you went and found a miniature you," Ibiki stated in slight annoyance, "Fine, welcome aboard kid, you'll need to be outfitted for a uniform but as Anko said you can start immediately. Take her to the chuunin level prisoners and see what she can get out of them."

"Right," Anko said before turning on her heel and leading the chuunin out of the room and through the departments tunnels, "Keep thinking the way you do Kohai and make them panic until they squeal."

"No problem," Yuzuki nodded.

Anko didn't even react to her response and simply stopped in front of a cell. The door had one-way glass where the department could look in, but the prisoner couldn't look out. Yuzuki tilted her head at the oto chuunin, a kunoichi, and looked at Anko for the signal that she could start. She got a nod, Kaede jumped from out of her flak jacket and sat next to the snake summoner, and she began to weave a genjutsu. The false surroundings jutsu covered the opening of the door and muffled the sound while a genjutsu over her person hid her from sight.

She truly had missed using her chakra.

She was getting ready to unleash a side of her that Genma and Hayate had never seen, but Anko had. Anko was more aware of her sadistic side then anyone. Not even Connor knew how sadistic she could get. She ignored those thoughts as she was quietly reminded that she needed to let go of the past.

The oto chuunin began to hyperventilate when her hearing went away, and the walls began to close in on her. She was close to a panic attack but held her tongue. Yuzuki didn't need to hear anything, she could sneak into the mind and obtain the information that was seeing as the natural shields were torn down due to the panic. She shifted into a clan jutsu and she was glad for all the training she had done with them; she was able to keep her genjutsu up.

She pulled out of the kunoichi's mind when she got the information she was looking for, or lack of. She went out the door and amped up the genjutsu of the walls closing in, she was petty. In the original timeline, their invasion had caused Hayate his life. She could never forgive them for that. A scream rang out as she exited the room and Anko's sadistic grin was the first thing she saw.

"Machi Hisako, a chuunin of Otogakure," She reported, "The whereabouts of the village were already discerned, and she wasn't close enough to Orochimaru to know anything of importance."

"I feel like that's going to be like that for every chuunin, but now I know how you work and can train you accordingly," Anko smirked.

Yuzuki wasn't the biggest fan of that. As she dodged snake after snake it cemented that feeling. Anko would train her and then send her to interrogate a prisoner. She would switch up how she approached the prisoner. The one after Hisako was a male so she used the auditory genjutsu to make it sound as though someone was in the room with him, whispering in his ears. The one after him was another woman, it was easy to mess with her mind as she was a newly appointed chuunin that had gone through the ringer with Orochimaru.

He was bloodline hunting, but seemed particularly hung up on the sharingan. When she reported that tidbit of information, Anko hadn't looked surprised. She supposed that it was common knowledge in the jonin circle. She wasn't privy to classified information, though she knew that she would soon find things that she couldn't talk about to anyone.

"Good work, now I get to teach you how to fill out paperwork on what you've learned," Anko informed her.

"Oh fun," Yuzuki muttered and Anko smirked at the slightly sarcastic tone.

Yes, she was going to have fun with her new Kohai. Hopefully, the kid can keep up better than the last one. An hour later found all the information correctly filled out and handed into Ibiki, who was pleasantly surprised that she had gotten any information out of the shinobi she had tortured. Then again, what else was he expecting from a Yamanaka. Well, he wasn't expecting the surprisingly sadistic methods she used to get the information she wanted.

"You will be in the department every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to learn how to interrogate torture and train with Anko," Ibiki informed the Chuunin, who stood up straighter and gave him her full attention, "You _will _be here at six in the morning until six at night, if you are late without a proper excuse you will be subjected to whatever punishment that Anko deems necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Yuzuki nodded.

"Then dismissed," Ibiki said.

Yuzuki gave a slight bow and left the room. Anko turned towards the scared man and he sighed. Those two were going to cause him to drink more than he already did. He would really like to know how the hell Anko was able to make a mini her without anyone knowing, the methods the girl used were like the snake summoners. The fact that she could get inside a person's mind without using a clan jutsu until the mind was broken told of someone who was sadistic. That girl didn't seem the type, but he supposed that quite a few kunoichi were like that.

Uchiha Mikoto had been like that when she was active duty.

That woman had become the perfect housewife, but no one in their right mind would forget the way she could decimate the battlefield. So many enemy nin's last sight had been sharingan eyes staring down at them. Now several enemy nin would see byakugan staring them down as their minds broke into pieces. They were creating a monster of sorts, but Genma would be there to make sure the girl never delved too deep into her sadistic nature.

Few Shinobi had a support system like that. Too many became like Anko due to the fact that they were pushed away for their sadistic nature that made them perfect to be torturers. If someone had accepted Anko, and that person wasn't Orochimaru, she would have ended up a bit happier than she was. As it was, one couldn't change the past. He returned his attention to the reports that the kid had written.

At least he finally had a shinobi that had legible writing.

Genma stared down at Yuzuki as she laid face down on the couch. He didn't even want to know what fresh hell she had been through. He scratched the back of his neck and chewed on his senbon.

"What'd she have you do?" He finally asked.

"She had me torture people and then trained me," Her answer was muffled due to the couch, "It wasn't even the torture that bothered me, it's the fact that she sent snakes that way."

"Just remember not to go too far on a comrade," He warned her, "Unless you need to stop them from doing something stupid, if so then don't break their mind…and don't do that during training either."

"I won't," She confirmed, and he felt better at that.

His sadistic kid was going to rock the world. The world wasn't ready for it, but fuck it she was going to do it anyway. He reached down and poked the back of her head. She slowly turned it to look at him and he gave her a lazy grin.

"You hungry?" He asked her.

"Famished."

He grinned at that response. He watched as she got up and moved to help him make something to eat. He was going to do sushi for dinner, something that'd be easy for her to make in the morning with the left overs. She made the rice and he cut the ingredients up. They both enjoyed spicy tuna, which sometimes causes Hayate some grief when they made sushi. One time he ate one that he thought was normal tuna and was left coughing for a good hour after.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" He asked her as they sat down at the table with their food.

"It's the weekend so I was planning on training," She answered, "I won't be going on missions for a month so that most of my attention is on the department."

He nodded his understanding at that. Once she could start going on missions she'd be gone more often than not. He was going to rarely see her and he would make sure to use all the time he had to train with her. He flicked a piece of rice at her and she dodged it before flicking one back.

Well, hopefully Kaede wouldn't get sick from eating them.

Yuzuki lounged around while Genma wrote up reports for the new Hokage. He needed to make sure that she knew everything that was happening within the village. Which included a specific S-Class secret. It might change the woman's opinion on his kid, but it probably wouldn't matter. She was a shinobi of Konohagakure and had proven where her loyalties lied.

As long as those she cared about were in the village then she would remain loyal. Good thing he wasn't planning on dying or leaving anything soon. She'd only have three people holding her to the village.

"What happened to Yuna?" He questioned.

"He's working on something secret in the Hyuuga compound," She answered with a slight frown, "I'm not privy to what exactly."

Ah, clan secrets. How they made things more difficult then they need to be. He ran a hand through his bandana free hair. He brought it down to a slowly nodding off Yuzuki and gave her a pat on the head.

She could sleep anywhere if the need arose. He didn't know how she did it sometimes, but he was glad for it. At least she didn't snore. She curled up into a ball around Kaede and slept like she had no worries.

He smiled before turning towards his reports. He needed to finish them before tomorrow.


	26. Chapter 25

**This will be a montage chapter that combines the aftermath of Sasuke leaving the village and one and a half years of training. It will be a bit long winded, so prepare yourselves.**

**I also have a bit more information to share on this story:**

**Hayate is twenty during the chuunin exams arc. I always thought it was weird that Masashi tried to show that Kakashi was around all the current jonin when he was a kid, but if we look at when he became a genin it makes no sense. He became one at five, statistically he would've never met any of them until joining Obito and Rin's Team at nine. Even during a war period, there would be sparse kids flowing into the population to keep up the number of soldiers in the ranks. Genma is older than Kakashi and yet he too was in the same group? **

**I think Masashi didn't want to add more characters to an already extensive repertoire, and I get that. He's also claimed that he's lazy, and I get that too. So, I did mess with the ages a bit to show that there was a generation after Genma and one after Kakashi. I don't think I was clear on it in the early chapter, I think I said he was just younger than he had been. **

**Genma-30 **

**Hayate- 20**

**Kakashi-26**

**Those are the ages. Obito and Rin were four years older than Kakashi, originally before Masashi went back and changed things. I will be working with that in thought, I just wanted to make sure everyone knows and that I made it a bit clearer than I had originally. Please enjoy the next few chapters that will be more descriptive of time moving.**

* * *

25

* * *

Anko ducked down from a sword strike towards her shoulder. She was training her Kohai and was watching her use her skill set together. She aimed her kunai at the chuunin and got a senbon spat at her face. It allowed the kid a chance to put some distance between them.

"Not bad," Anko complimented, "You have a variety of fighting styles to call on, but you work well with long distance."

Anko watched as a foot came at her from her left side and stepped back to easily dodge the kick. She felt something hit her leg and was suddenly thrown off her feet. She grinned and landed before taking the kid seriously. She had a few new moves compared to the time they spent in the forest.

They met in taijutsu and she was almost overpowered by the juken moves that used chakra. She was getting better at fighting close range, that killing edge had finally appeared in her. Perhaps that invasion had been a good thing for her. She grabbed the girl's arm and easily tossed her over her shoulder. She caught herself with ease and slid a few feet away.

"Now, don't go getting cocky!" Anko informed the chuunin.

Yuzuki gave her a small smile before poofing into a cloud. Anko hadn't been expecting a clone. The kid came running at her with her tachi drawn, she blocked the first attack and jumped out of the way of the second. She substituted last minute as the kid finished the dance of the crescent moon and she narrowed her eyes. When the hell had she mastered that move? She may have learned under Hayate, but she never showed that she had learned that move.

"You're a dangerous brat," Anko informed her as she charged again.

A tanto was brought out and she heard the crackling of chakra. She jumped back and watched as the floor exploded in sparks where the tanto had hit it. Oh, there were a few moves that could be done with such chakra. Her control is what made her moves deadly. She was proven right in that assumption when some of the sparks tried to strike her in the air.

"Nice try," Anko grinned.

She landed on the ceiling and readied herself to rush the girl. She was met with a log. The two of them were fighting in circles and she had to wonder when the kid had gotten so strong. A month of heavy training with a tokubetsu jonin had been enough to strengthen her to a level that was close to her. She didn't even have any techniques with the pup, yet.

"Again," Anko started as she caught the girl's foot as she attempted a kick, "Nice try."

She swung the girl around and this time she did some damage as the kid hit the ground hard on her left side. A rain of senbon came towards her a whistle sounded out, so she had been training with the pup as well. She was able to easily dodge the pup and senbon. She held up a hand and the fighting stopped.

"Nicely done," Anko told her, "But you need to work with your ninken, you two need to be in unison."

"Understood," Yuzuki nodded.

Kaede gave a sniff in agreement and jumped into the arms of her kunoichi before curling up there. Yuzuki gave her a small shake of her head in slight amusement before turning to her new teacher. It hadn't even been three weeks before the purple haired woman had forcefully dragged her to torture and interrogation to train with her. She ran a hand through her messed up hair and tugged at her uniform in thought.

"I'm going to let you go early today, brat," Anko informed her with a frown, "Don't go and get lazy on me!"

"Right," Yuzuki gave her a grin before hurrying out of the building.

She decided to walk around the village without chakra to get some training in before heading to the apartment. Kaede jumped down from her arms and walked next to the preteen. She was free to put her hands into the pockets of her uniform as she thought about what had happened. Sasuke had left the village, and Naruto was soon following. She bit her lip and wondered how so many things could go wrong in such a short amount of time.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a certain pink haired kunoichi putting an arm around her neck and dragging her through the village all the way to the hokage tower. She didn't know what the hell was going on, and didn't know if she should ask. She made a face as Kaede gave her a wolfish smile.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?" She finally asked as they came closer and closer to the tower.

"We're going to become apprentices to the Godaime." Sakura replied with a huff.

"Wait, we?" Yuzuki asked.

"I need to be able to see just how far I can grow," Sakura answered and Yuzuki blinked at the fire behind the green eyes, "I want to know that I can beat you in anything you do as well!"

"That's not how it works," Yuzuki said as her eye twitched, "It's such a selfish reason."

"I also want to help my teammates, I want them to feel like they can count on me too."

Sakura watched as Yuzuki thought about that before a look of understanding appeared on her face. She knew the feeling of wanting to protect those one cared about. It was the reason why she was interested in iryo-jutsu, besides the fact that it would keep Sakura out of torture and interrogation, to help keep Genma and Hayate safe and healthy. She didn't want the spotlight, if she was forced into learning under Tsunade she would be subjected to the honorific _Sama_ or _Hime_. She felt a frown forming.

"I get that, but I don't think you need me to help you with that," Yuzuki sighed.

"I want you to help me with that, you are my rival after all."

She never agreed to that. Yuzuki shot the pinkette an annoyed look before she was dragged inside the tower and into Tsunade's office. Tsunade wasn't surprised to see them, having sensed the two chakras before they even reached her door. Yuzuki was easy to sense, her chakra crackled like lightning. The other girl was a force much like herself, strong willed and burning to prove her worth, though her chakra was small.

"I want you to make us your apprentice!"

Tsunade hadn't been expecting the girl in Naruto's team to be so blunt. She looked from the pinkette to the taller preteen who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else but there. It was amusing to see two different personalities forced into a room together.

"You've got guts," Tsunade informed the pinkette as she put down a scroll she had been reading, "You'll need that if you are to survive my training."

Sakura grinned at that while Yuzuki sighed. She was now an apprentice of the fifth hokage, along with Sakura. She brought a hand up and rubbed at her temples as Tsunade gave them scroll after scroll to memorize.

"As one of you is in a department already interning, I will have you both come at different times to learn during the week," Tsunade informed them, "The weekends are when both of you will be here to learn, from four to eight you will be under my tutelage."

"Yes, Shishou!" Sakura and Yuzuki confirmed.

That was how Yuzuki found herself in a never-ending loop of training and paperwork. One day it would be training with Anko and learning how to torture someone with physical methods, the next it was spent with Tsunade learning how to channel her chakra to heal someone and how the human body worked. She didn't have time to see Genma or Hayate during the day, and at night she was too tired to even hold up a conversation with her father figure. She didn't even get to spend her thirteenth birthday with anyone, though Genma had left a present from him and one from Hayate on her bed.

Sakura had time off to relax with friends and family before she went in to train with the blonde hokage. Yuzuki didn't have that luxury due to her internship at torture and interrogation, but it did keep her at her best. She saw her skills skyrocket during the first month of constant training and learning. At two she was able to use the mythic palm technique and heal people, at three Sakura had caught up with her. At four Sakura was able to retake the chuunin exams, Yuzuki with a mission to escort her to Suna and to help keep things peaceful between everyone.

The two girls didn't fight as often as Naruto and Sasuke did, Tsunade would never allow it to happen, but they did have their disagreements. Sakura was stubborn to a point that could end up deadly. Yuzuki would always say something to try and stop an argument from happening, but it would end up making things worse. It didn't even matter what was said, the pinkette was always ready to fight the other girl.

When the beginning of march happened, the first year after Sasuke and Naruto had left, and the two girls began to go through puberty Tsunade found herself telling the kunoichi instructor at the academy to teach the girls how to deal with their menstrual cycle. She had to tell two thirteen-year old's how to use chakra to stop themselves from bleeding during a mission. It wasn't the worse thing she's had to say to a child that young, but it hadn't been enjoyable to anyone present. Those two girls had trouble meeting her eyes for a week after that.

As she trained the two together she was getting a glimpse of raw talent in both. Yuzuki had reached the ninety-ninth percental and was nearing the hundredth, Sakura hot on her heels at ninety-six. Whenever one of the girls reached a pinnacle the other soon followed, and she knew that Yuzuki wasn't aware that she was even doing such a thing. The other girl was taking to having a rival much better than that brat Kakashi ever did. When one was down the other would stand up to protect, and both could coordinate attacks together. It was during a lunch break that she saw a friendship beginning to grow, a small bud that she was going to cultivate.

"You think Naruto is getting stronger?" Sakura asked Yuzuki as they ate their lunches before they broke off to go to torture and interrogation.

"Knowing him, yeah," Yuzuki nodded, "That boy's going to end up stronger than all of us."

"Makes it seem a bit futile growing stronger," The Pinkette grumbled.

"Even if your opponent is stronger, they can still be beaten with teamwork," Tsunade told them as she frowned, "Even someone like Naruto could be beaten by you two if you worked together."

Sakura gained a thoughtful expression at that and Yuzuki nodded in agreement. Her watch beeped and she closed her now empty bento box. Sakura followed suit and both girls gave their master a bow before rushing towards the building that was nestled away in a corner of the village.

Sakura had indeed joined Torture and Interrogation after becoming a chuunin, it was as Anko was passing Yuzuki over to Ibiki for even more in-depth instruction on how to get information out of someone. The pinkette had been terrified of the purple haired kunoichi after the first training session to see where she was in skill, and even more so when she was instructed on the ways to shatter a person's mind. The department created monsters that could weed out other monsters, they were terrifying but if she had met them out on the street she would have never thought of them that way. Izumo and Kotetsu were goofballs that could lighten up a room, but they could also be terrifying and easily get answers out of the prisoners that they interrogated.

When they worked with Yuzuki everyone in the area moved to watch the interrogation. Three weapon users together were terrifying on the battlefield, but in the interrogation room it was a nightmare. Chakra would coat the rooms as Yuzuki used genjutsu after genjutsu to make the prisoner panic while Kotetsu and Izumo interrogated them like nothing was wrong. The kid was good at erasing herself from an area, if they hadn't known she went in with them they would have fallen for it as well. She was able to make her chakra disappear to the point where it blended in with the chakra surrounding them.

Sakura was able to get answers, after two hours of physical torture. She was more of a physical shinobi than a mental shinobi. She was once a paper ninja, and she did still enjoy reading scrolls, but she had moved away from such a stigma. She knew the inner mechanisms of the mind, but not as well as a Yamanaka. She knew the body very well; she had memorized each scroll that had been given to them by Tsunade and used the information held within to get her information.

It was when they were nearing a year and a half that Sakura heard Yuzuki talking to Ibiki about becoming a Jonin. She wanted to start taking A-rank missions that would take her out of the village for a while. She had a strange expression on her face when he asked why. When she replied _I want to see the rest of the world and get paid while doing so_, his expression had turned slightly amused. Nothing was said between anyone that Genma and Hayate would worry about her becoming a Jonin, thinking that she might be moving too fast.

"Why don't you tell them?" Sakura asked as they read more medical scrolls on the topic of the human mind, "I'm sure Genma will be supportive."

"I don't want them to worry," Yuzuki replied as she reread a passage again to make sure she understood it, "I haven't spoken to Hayate in over a year…I don't think I have the right to tell him of my plans for advancement."

Sakura rolled her eyes at that and went to jab the other girl in the side. Yuzuki retaliated and hit her with the scroll in her hand as a still growing Kaede sat on the pinkette. The Ookami and Kunoichi were finally able to understand one another, it happened when her canines finally grew in, and worked as a team when out of the field. The fact that the Ookami agreed with the teen in any argument between the two girls left little to be said.

"You two, stop fooling around," Tsunade barked at them and their spines straightened, "And Yuzuki, if you want to become a jonin you will have to do a whole year of C-rank and B-rank missions, you do that and you will be permitted to take the exam."

"What does the exam entail?" Yuzuki asked and Sakura held her scroll down as well, it had never been gone over.

"Well, it differs from each village," Tsunade answered, "And from kage to kage, I can't give you any specifics of what I'll have you do but just know that it's one exam."

"I understand that," Yuzuki muttered in thought, "We've already proven our abilities to gather information and lead during the chuunin exams, so a jonin exam would be to see if we have furthered those abilities…am I able to start doing the missions?"

"You'll stress yourself out if you take on anymore duties," Tsunade warned her, "But I will allow it, if you begin to slip in your proficiency I will take you off the mission roster until I deem you fit to go back on it, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Godaime-sama," Yuzuki nodded.

"Good, now get back to work."

The two chuunin did just that. Tsunade took out a small sake bottle and filled up a saucer to drink from. She needed the drink; she was almost sure that they were going to have an Uchiha Itachi 2.0 on their hands if they weren't careful. Yet, as she watched as the two girls put their heads together to try and find new ways to work on the mind without damaging it further, she felt that was the furthest from the truth. She sighed and began to find missions that the torturer could perform that would be enough for her to be considered for a jonin advancement. Her and the Hyuuga from the branch family were both gunning for early jonin promotions.

She supposed that such things could run in families, as odd as it was. Still, she had missions to assign and chuunins to train. She cracked her knuckles and both girls tensed up at the sound. She raised a brow at the two and they delved back into the scrolls, she smirked it was nice to have people fall into line.

Yuzuki looked at the missions scrolls she had been given; they were all C-rank missions that could be done within the village. She felt as though she had been given the short end of the stick, they all looked like D-rank missions that were placed a spot higher due to necessity. Rebuild buildings ABC, deliver supplies from point a to point b, and help at the hospital. The last one had the best pay and several scrolls. Those had been given to her as soon as Tsunade had deemed her abilities high enough not to injure a patient further. Sakura had already been working at the hospital for a month before she began to. For once the pinkette had beaten her in something, not that she cared, she was oddly proud of her. A part of her wanted to say _I inspired that_, and another was annoyed that she felt pride for something that someone else had done. She digressed.

The moment she began to work at the hospital, the hime honorific had been tacked onto her name. She had stared at the medical charts of a genin that had called her that. Watanabe Eiji grinned up at her as she digested what he had called her. The clipboard in her hands broke from the sudden tightening of her fingers and she gave him an apologetic smile as he yelped in surprise.

"How'd you get injured, Eiji?" She questioned him as she gathered her chakra into her left hand and turned it into medical chakra.

"Training accident," He answered as she placed her hand on his broken arm, "Michiru-chan seems to have gotten harsher after the invasion."

Michiru had been their female teammate that was in the hospital during the chuunin exams. Yuzuki hummed in understanding as she focused on mending the splintered bones back together. She could see it working with the byakugan activated, it did make it easier to do such precise surgeries when one could see everything that went on in the body.

"So, why Hime?" She grumbled.

"Do you not realize that people are calling you that? They call Haruno-san, sama," Eiji answered and he watched a small frown appear on her face.

"Why, we haven't really done anything to deserve such titles," She huffed as she moved away from the now mended arm and towards the twisted ankle.

"Really, you two are the apprentices of the Godaime were you not expecting people to put you on a pedestal?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, I was expecting it," She answered as she finished healing him, "I just absolutely loathe it."

"That's rough, Yuzu-chan," he commented.

She gave him a look and he wondered why. She had just been meme'd at by someone who didn't even know what a meme was. The _that's rough buddy_ wasn't what she had been expecting. She shook her head before signing his chart so he could leave. He gave a cheer before he left the room. He was full of energy it seemed, she felt like he was going to be back before the week was over. She grabbed the next chart and went to the next room; it was going to be a long day at the hospital.

It was a long three months, they were reaching November, and she had finally done enough C-rank missions to move on to the B-rank missions. There were few for inside the village, they dealt with tracking down criminals and then interrogating them for more information. She was put in a squad under an ANBU operative with a bear mask and sent into the village to find the criminals. It didn't take them much time to round them up.

It did however turn into an A-rank once it became known that they were black market drug dealers. She thought that those wouldn't exist in a world full of shinobi, but she supposed that people had to be shitty no matter where they were from. She could liken the drug to PCP, as it caused those that used it to hallucinate. Everyone on that squad was informed that it was an S-class secret and they weren't allowed to tell anyone, but if they saw one of the dealers they were to arrest them immediately and bring them in for questioning.

The Sandaime had been a good man, but he was human. He was fallible, and it was easy to see that he didn't know what to do with the small gangs that had started to crop up after the Kyuubi attack. They had grown even braver after the Uchiha massacre, there was no police force to bring them down. Shinobi typically didn't care unless they were given a reason to. The Godaime wasn't taking that stance, she knew what could happen to the masses if it continued. The hospitals would be filled with people who were addicted to a substance that could kill them.

She watched as their numbers were drastically cut down as the squad led by Bear caught dealer after dealer and brought in the product. She made sure it was swiftly destroyed before any more citizens were addicted on the substance. She then started to rehabilitate those that were, the hospital was understaffed for such an undertaking. She placed, Shizune, Sakura, and Yuzuki inside to help speed up the process.

It seemed as though Sakura and Yuzuki had finally earned the honorific's attached to their names. For an S-class secret the whole village knew about it by the time the last dealer was brought in and the last of the drugs were destroyed. Genma was told that he had done an excellent job with his kid from Inoichi as he had a drink after a particularly long mission. Not what he was expecting after an assassination job, but it was nice to hear. Hayate was a bit confused by the stories traveling through the village, but took note of each one.

He'd have to ask her next time he actually saw her. She wasn't avoiding them, but she wasn't trying to make time to see them. She was juggling too much for a person and he almost felt bad for her. It was her choice, and he trusted that she was making the right one.

Yuzuki felt that November liked to drag on. Her birthday always came on the first day of winter, and she was stuck waiting until she was fourteen. December twenty-first always did seem so far away when it was November. She had to shake such thoughts from her head as she started to do the paperwork that was required of her by the hospital and the torture and interrogation department. It was a lot, and she was stuck inside her office in the department. They were all due by the end of the year and she wasn't about to finish it last minute. She narrowed her eyes at the piles in annoyance before creating two clones to make everything go faster, they had her personality so they would write and vote the way that she would.

It was on her birthday and second year of training with the pinkette that Tsunade sprung a surprise on her.

"I'm putting you forward for the jonin exam," The blonde hokage informed the now fourteen-year-old.

"I understand," Yuzuki nodded, "But I thought I had to complete more missions."

"You did, but with the amount of work you've done for the hospital it added up on your C-ranks," Tsunade informed her, "And interrogation brought up your B-ranks, you've shown initiative that allows me to put you forth."

"What will my task be?" Yuzuki questioned as she stood up straighter.

"Let's see," Tsunade hummed as she began to search through the papers on her desk in an attempt to bother the teen, "Your assignment will be the gathering of information from a politician before assassinating him before he can vote for the new policy against shinobi."

"I understand, Godaime-sama," Yuzuki nodded.

"Oh, you aren't allowed to say goodbye to anyone," Tsunade informed the girl as she brought out a sealed scroll, "You are to use what's inside this scroll the moment you are far enough from Konoha, it has the rest of the information held within it. Good luck."

She got a bow before the teen and ookami vanished from her sight. She smirked at that; she was going to get a new jonin by the time the year rolled over. She was looking forward to celebrating with a few bottles of sake. She was going to have to put up with Genma showing up looking for his kid, she didn't even answer the man when he asked how she was doing.

She understood that her student was mentally older than the men who she had a close bond to, she knew that the girl needed periodic breaks to gather her emotions and keep them in check. The amount of work and stress the teen had put herself in was one way of controlling her emotions during a sudden influx of hormones that began during puberty. It was difficult with a father figure that had no woman to turn to for help with a girl.

She would give the teen the break she needed, and get a jonin out of it. It was a winning situation for all those who were involved. Now, she just had to get her other apprentice out of her funk at her missing rival. Sparring would work very well for that.

"Meet me outside at training grounds two," Tsunade ordered Sakura, who paled slightly before nodding.

Tsunade smirked, she was going to have some fun.


	27. Chapter 26

**I've been playing a lot of Naruto Blazing…I got a four-star Hayate and a five-star with a single draw and I'm a bit amused at that. That's poetic timing on the games part. **

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26

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Yuzuki spoke to the man she was supposed to kill. She was under a henge that was impossible to detect and flirting with him to get him alone. She was playing the part of a dumb brunette and her amber eyes were wide in surprise at something the man said. He hated shinobi with a passion, he didn't see the need for them. Now she could see why someone put a hit out on him. He was stupid.

"Oh my," She said in a high voice that was nowhere near her normal monotone, "You are such an intelligent man."

"I'm glad you think so, beautiful," the man said, and she felt a shiver of disgust go down her spine, "Why don't we go somewhere more private to continue this conversation."

"I'd love that," Yuzuki said while blinking up at the man as she leaned towards him.

She hated the fact that she was doing this, she was not the right kind of person for seduction missions. She felt disgust at each word he spoke and every action she took to get him ensnared. Her kimono was loose around her shoulders and showing off the henged cleavage she had chosen. One could learn a lot from the nearby brothels and bars, the man went after well-endowed women. Brunettes with large amber eyes were his type. The fact that she could come off as innocent brought him into her web even more.

Her thoughts turned to Kaede and she hoped that the Ookami was enjoying her time at the hotel while she could. They'd be leaving town as soon as the man was dead. She left a three-pronged kunai in the hotel room for a quick escape.

She got up from her seat and accepted his arm. The man had no clue that he was escorting a teen around, didn't even know her actual age. The fourteen-year-old was glad that she had the extra twenty-three years under belt to call on. Emotional and physical maturity wasn't something she'd accomplished yet, mental maturity was. She was using it to her advantage. She needed to if she were to be a jonin.

"My dear, you are more beautiful than the last woman I had some alone time with," The politician informed her, her stomach lurched as she hid her mouth behind her hand in an act of shyness.

She was able to feel the heat in her cheeks as she bashfully giggled at the man. He licked his lips as they entered a hotel and quickly ushered her to a room. She kept up the act as she was sat on a bed. He didn't feel her chakra as she began to weave a genjutsu, her hand hidden in her kimono sleeve. He went to sit next to her on the bed and she got up. The charade of a shy, sultry, woman was gone, and the hardened Shinobi stood before him. With quick hand signs she delved into his mind and acquired the information she needed.

She pulled out of his head and used a chakra blade across his throat. He died quickly and laid in the bed with his eyes open. She hiraishined out of the room and into her hotel. Her henge dropped and she stripped from the heavy silk kimono.

Kaede looked up as the clothing hit the ground and watched as her kunoichi quickly bound her breasts before changing into her chuunin uniform. She grabbed the sealing scroll with her mission and equipment, and placed it in one of the pockets of her flack jacket. The heavy kimono was sealed away, and she looked around for her footwear. As soon as her sandals were on the two left the hotel and started to head back to Konoha. Tree hopping was the fastest way.

Mitsu no kuni was beautiful, but the bars and whore houses were not her scene. It surprised her that a Las Vegas-esque town would crop up in a place that had honey in its name, but she supposed more than one substance could be like honey. She made a face at that thought before clearing her mind to pay attention to her surroundings. She was nearing Mizu no kuni, even if the Mizukage was interested in a treaty she didn't want to run into missing-nin who wanted to fight. It was a quick in and out mission.

She broke through the tree line of mitsu no kuni and the smell of honey wafted through the field that marked a border between Mizu no kuni and hi no kuni. She'd have to run across the lake that stood in her way home. She activated her byakugan to check the water for any Shinobi. She really didn't want to risk anything.

"Let's go, Kaede," She said to the Ookami.

She put a foot on the water and the two began to race across the surface. Pale eyes kept moving side to side as she kept an eye on the surroundings. She didn't even know what she could do to avoid death or capture, she could pull a Naruto. She could talk out of her ass and see if that worked. She knew she wasn't as charismatic as the Uzumaki; it would most likely fail if she tried.

She reached the other side and let out a soft sigh of relief before continuing towards Konohagakure. She was missing home and she wanted a shower to get rid of the smell of heavy perfume that was on her person. She didn't know why women wore such things, even in her previous life she hadn't worn the stuff. She never understood it.

It was getting dark when she realized that it would take too long to get back, she needed to set up camp and take a break from traveling. She was far enough away that tracking would be difficult. Not impossible, due to the perfume ingrained in her skin, but the odds were in her favor. She unsealed the scroll and a backpack fell out of it. It was her second time going into the thing, the mission scroll had been destroyed as per instruction, and she was going to keep it out. Just in case she needed something.

She started to set up traps as Kaede hunted for her dinner. Wire traps were set up and she had a few smoke tags and explosive tags scattered everywhere. It was a lot of noise and it would make sure she was up in case someone attacked her. She was hoping that wasn't the case.

She ate half a ration bar and curled up in a ball under a mess of roots that created a safe area that was impossible to see. Kaede joined her and she gave the ookami a soft smile before closing her eyes. Her dreams were interesting, meaning that she couldn't understand them. They were muddled and it was like she was trying to see through heavily frosted glass. It was an improvement over the nightmares that had plagued her for years, but she didn't know the reason behind them. When she woke the next morning she was sweating heavily, it was cold out but humid.

"Must be Mizu's rain season," She muttered as she wiped her forehead with the back of her arm.

It was quick work to remove all the traps she had set up and then leave. She didn't need the breakfast and Kaede would hunt for something along the way. She needed to wake up and jumping from tree to tree was a perfect way to do so. The morning air was truly thick with humidity, but it lowered the further into hi no kuni she got. Her hair was starting to curl from it, and she bared it no mind.

"That was too easy," She couldn't help but mutter as she came across the gates of Konoha.

Jonin missions rarely went that smoothly, sure there were one or two that did but an information gathering mission? Those were the kind that always ended up in disaster or misinformation…unless it was handed to a Yamanaka or an intern from the Torture and Interrogation department. No wonder Tsunade hadn't seemed too worried about sending her out on this mission for her jonin exam, it was to see just how she got information and to see if she could gather it in a way that wasn't normal for her. Huh, it truly was the perfect test and she hated it. A test was supposed to challenge you, the chuunin exams were a challenge this wasn't. The village must've been hurting for new jonin to the point where they were giving easy tests.

She decided to scare her teacher in retaliation.

"Reporting in," She said as she opened the window to Tsunade's office.

She easily ducked to avoid the sake saucer that had been thrown her way. It was empty, and it created a small crater when it hit the ground below. She was able to keep her amused smirk from her face as she fully stepped into the office. She got a whiff of the sake and her nose wrinkled.

"I've spent enough time in a bar to know that day drinking is a sign of a genuine problem," She said to her hokage, "Do you want the report orally or written?"

"Orally, I want to know what you learned and how you did so," Tsunade ordered as she seemed to sober up a bit.

"Satou Ren was conspiring to cut Konoha forces in half with his newest proposal to the Daimyo," Yuzuki began her report and Tsunade saw the shift from playful teasing to serious shinobi, "He was hanging around the whore houses and bars of Mitsu village within Mitsu no Kuni, under a henge I was able to get him drunk enough to tell his secrets and then get him alone to finish him off, his body will not be found until the end of the week when his payment for the room is required. All signs of my chakra on his person will have faded by now."

"Well done, his proposal had no grounds to begin with, but he might've gotten support from the Daimyo," Tsunade informed the girl, "You've completed your mission, and as such have met the requirements to become a Jonin, congratulations."

"Thank you, Shishou," Yuzuki said as she relaxed her posture a bit, "Is there anything else you require of me?"

"Get some rest, I'll send Ibiki a notification of your promotion so that you'll be allowed to interrogate all prisoner," Tsunade informed her, "You'll be back training and learning on Monday, and happy birthday."

"Thank you," Yuzuki softly said before she motioned towards Kaede.

The Ookami went onto her hind legs and Yuzuki hiraishined them to her room at the apartment. Kaede shook her body in slight discontent before leaving the room to go find Genma and bother the man. Yuzuki sighed in amusement as she went to take a shower and change into some civilian clothing, she hadn't tried making clothes again seeing as she wanted to wait until she was finally done growing. The moment she came out of the bathroom she heard something being moved around in the apartment.

Genma was never that loud when moving around. She activated the byakugan and blinked, Ino was in the apartment and looking around for something. She went to investigate, the byakugan no longer in use, and raised a brow at the blonde.

"Kaede let me in," Ino stated as she shrugged, "Now, we're going to have some tea and you're going to tell me why you've been avoiding everyone."

"I haven't been avoiding everyone," Yuzuki shook her head in disbelief as she took a seat at the dining table, "I've been busy, there's a huge difference."

"Yes, well, while you've been busy I've figured out how to get into a person's mind," Ino said with a grin, "My training with Dad has caught up to where I should be, in a few more month's we'll be on par."

"Have you decided what branch to go into?" Yuzuki asked her.

"Information gathering, it's a branch of the hunting department," Ino answered as she poured the ready tea.

"Really, are you going to be on a team with Shikamaru and Choji?" Yuzuki questioned as she began to drink her cup of tea.

"Yeah, sometimes we'll work with Hinata's team," Ino nodded.

Yuzuki smiled at that and she wondered why Ino would choose such a route. She wondered if it was because she wanted to stand out against the girls of their year. Two of them had gone into torture and interrogation, one was in hunting. Tenten had gone into a line of work that dealt with weapons and was creating weapons that worked well with chakra, something Yuzuki was planning on looking into for a new weapon to add to her fighting style.

"What about you? All I could smell upon entering was heavy perfume, is there something you aren't telling me?" Ino questioned.

"I just became a jonin," Yuzuki stated.

Ino simply blinked at that for a few minutes as it slowly sunk in. Her hands slammed on the table and the blonde shot up in her seat. Yuzuki backed up a bit at the frown on her face.

"What the hell do you mean, you just became a jonin!?" Ino shouted.

"Oh, that's cause for a celebration," Genma's voice cut through the air and Yuzuki slumped in her chair and tried to ignore the glare sent her way from Ino.

That's what she gets for not keeping contact with anyone. She knew that's what she was doing, but she liked being kept busy. Like she once told Hayate, _she really liked the dolla dolla. _She wanted to build her own house; she even had enough money saved up for such a thing. She just needed to find a nice plot of land near the hokage monument, or on top of it, and then a builder that would build according to her design.

"I swear, you need a break," Genma sighed as he lightly bopped the top of Yuzuki's head, "You keep forgetting to tell us important information."

"I would've told you before I left, but Tsunade-shishou told me not to," Yuzuki tried to explain, but a raised brow from Genma informed her that it wasn't working.

He simply shook his head at that and walked to the door. Ino watched as the older man left the apartment and then turned to Yuzuki. She was looking down at her cup of tea with glossy eyes. The blonde realized that she had simply let herself get too busy. She slowly reached out and placed a hand on top of the taller girl's head.

"I'm okay," Yuzuki softly said, "He's right, I keep getting too busy and I'm starting to hold information close to me."

"You tend to do that without thinking," Ino commented and she didn't get the reaction she was hoping for, "He's just a bit upset, he'll get over it."

Yuzuki didn't reply to that and Ino reached forward to flick the girl in the forehead. Yuzuki frowned at that and rubbed at the reddening spot. She still didn't say anything and Ino sighed. It hadn't changed how she was feeling, it had made things worse.

"Hey, get some rest," Ino told her, "We can all celebrate with Neji and you when he gets back from his exam."

"Yeah, see you then, Ino."

Ino paused at the sight emotionless way the other girl said that before ignoring it and heading out of the apartment to leave the teen to her sulking. The teenage angst had hit her hard, the raging hormones were making themselves known and she had trouble thinking through them sometimes. Somedays she was fine, other's she didn't even know who she was. She felt as though a rift was forming between her and the two men she had come to rely on.

Genma she saw during meals, but she was always so tired that she didn't really talk to him. She hadn't even seen Hayate in that time and as such she didn't really have that close bond with him anymore. Sure, she'd "seen" him around the village, but it felt like he was busy as well. She was sure that he was trying to get into ANBU to be one of Tsunade's guards, something he had wanted to do while the Sandaime was alive but due to his illness he couldn't. She didn't blame him, and wished him the best.

She just couldn't help but think she should change her specialty from interrogation to isolation. She ran a hand through her still wet hair and looked towards Kaede, she wasn't completely alone but sometimes human interaction was needed. She didn't need a date or anything, something that Ino would definitely prescribe if she were ever to voice her problems out loud, she just needed someone to talk to that wasn't training her. She could try to talk to her prisoners, torture them with kindness, but that wouldn't work. She also didn't want Ibiki mad at her, the man still scared her, even if they were at the same rank now.

"I'm heading to bed, Kaede," She informed the Ookami, "You know the rules."

She got a bark in confirmation and she got up from her chair to clean up before heading to her room to get some sleep. She put her towel up and climbed into her bed. She laid there, her eyes dry, fighting sleep. She brought a hand up and ran it down her face, she messed up. She knew she messed up. It seemed like that was all she was good at doing. She shut her eyes at that and forced herself to sleep, she needed the rest.

She spent the rest of the year trying to catch Genma before she left to train or work, but it seemed as though he needed space. She didn't bring it up with Tsunade, she didn't want the man to feel like he was forced to listen to her, but even the hokage could tell something was wrong. She was training the two girls while the hokage guard squad took the chance to make sure that all the protections within the office were still working properly, that's when she noticed the rift between the two of them. She sighed through her nose and watched as the brown-haired man seemed ready to say something to the diligently working teen, but he seemed to change his mind and went back to working on the seal above her door.

"Yuzuki," Tsunade called and said girl looked up, "I want you to deliver this scroll to the hospital, the head nurse Tomoko needs the new schedule."

"Yes, Shishou," Yuzuki nodded as she accepted the scroll.

She headed out of the office and Sakura looked up from her scroll and towards the blonde woman, she was planning something, and it had to deal with the other girl that just left. Tomoko usually got the schedule every Sunday at noon so that the workers would be aware of when they had to work. The fact that the schedule was being released this early spoke of a plot. It wasn't any of her business and she didn't want to get caught up in it. When the other girl came back and gave her a shrug no one said anything.

Another year passed, and the two girls were starting to surpass Tsunade in their skills. Ibiki was able to spend more time in his office and on the training ground due to the Yamanaka taking over his paperwork and some of the harder to crack prisoners. The fifteen-year old was able to get through the stacks of paperwork fast with the clones she made, never more than three at a time. He was quite glad for the reprise, but he knew it wasn't going to last.

Tsunade was proud of the two girls and how much they had grown. Sakura was still working on her temper but her abilities had skyrocketed since she began to learn under her. Yuzuki was as still a quick study, she could use what ever was taught to her and use it to her advantage. She saw the productivity of the hospital increase as more kunoichi went into the medical field after rumors of the two girls started to circulate. Sakura-Sama and Yuzuki-hime, one girl seemed surprised and fought to make sure she was worthy of the title, the other slightly annoyed at it but slowly coming around.

Yuzuki had left the apartment and was now in her own space. She never told Genma or Hayate, she didn't know how to approach the man she thought of as a father that she was moving out. She couldn't deal with the avoidance on both their parts. She took the cowards way out, and decided to have her space where she and Kaede could call home. It was never home in her mind. To her home was a man with a senbon hanging from his mouth, a man she called father.

She needed to get away from the village for a while, if anything she needed a long mission to clear her mind so she could grow a spine and talk to the older man. She wanted to mend things, but didn't know where to start. If she got that time away to think, she might be able to mend the bond she had with Genma. The one she had with Hayate, well…that one would be tricky.

The last time she had saw the man her palms had grown sweaty and she became extremely nervous. She didn't know why exactly, yes she had a crush on him as a preteen, but she hadn't spoken to him in two years. It puzzled her, and she didn't like it. If she wanted to be teased she'd bring it up to Tsunade or Anko, but she didn't. She wanted a straight answer and she didn't feel right going up to Hinata's sensei to ask. She had to make up her mind, and do it fast before she lost courage.

"I would like a long mission, shishou," She said one day after she was done with training, "It will allow me time to start training with my summons out of the watchful eyes of the Inuzuka."

"You want to keep your techniques a secret from them?" Tsunade questioned.

"I believe that the techniques might be similar to the clans and I don't want to be accused of clan theft," She explained, "A place where no one can bother me or no clans are watching will be perfect and I'll be glad to do any mission for it."

"I have one up in the land of snow," Tsunade stated as she moved the scrolls on her desk around, "You won't be coming back until a few months after Naruto's estimated return."

"I understand," Yuzuki nodded, "Be sure to give the knucklehead a hug from me when he gets back, and an apology for not being here."

"Tell him yourself when you come back, brat," Tsunade grumbled as she handed the right scroll over, "Be safe and dress warm for kami's sake, we don't need you brought back in a box."

"Yes, Ma'am."


	28. Chapter 27

**The land of snow will be different in my story, it won't have the bs heat generators from the movie since even in Naruto that made no sense. It will just be a place with a royal family and a tiny clan that protects them.**

* * *

27

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Well, Yuzuki was in the artic. That was the best way to describe the land of snow, even as a bitter wind ripped through the area she was in. The boat that dropped her off on the iced land was hurrying back to the mainland, they wouldn't be back for her until it was time for her to go. She brought a hand up and tucked her hair behind her ear. The mission was to keep an eye on the royal family and step in if the current ruler was under attack.

The woman was an actress and had won back her country through force, and the help of a blonde shinobi from Konoha. She sighed at that; she was getting a mission that Naruto himself had once helped on. Well, at least the woman might trust her due to the previous affiliation. It was her best bet in the lifeless world full of ice and snow.

"We should hurry and find the village before it gets dark," Yuzuki informed Kaede before she looked up at the sky, "Well, darker."

The two set off, the freezing air making her skin sting as they quickly traveled across the snow. She was using chakra to run atop of it. Kaede was just plowing through it, her lighter coat was working to camouflage her. The village was further than she predicted and when the wind began to pick up to be even colder than it had been, she started to look for a place to make camp for the night. A small alcove in the side of a high glacier became a place for her to stay to get out of the cold.

"It's strange, the more I'm out in the cold the warmer I get," Yuzuki informed the Ookami as she huddled against the large two tailed wolf for warmth, "That's a dangerous sign, but using chakra to heat up my body through the night would be too dangerous."

A sniff was her answer followed by some low barks.

"Thanks Kaede, I'll be sure not to die on you," Yuzuki huffed in amusement, "I think that when we get back to Konoha I'll apologize to Dad…I miss him."

Kaede gave the girl a look of understanding as a face was buried in her fur. She curled up around the teen and used her chakra to warm up her body. She didn't want her Kunoichi to get sick or die on her. The night would be long and a test for the both of them.

"Huh, I suppose it truly is winter," Yuzuki muttered as the sparse light of morning hit their small hideaway, "Let's push through breakfast and make it to the village before night falls again."

Kaede gave a nod of agreement and they were off once again. It took them four hours to get to their destination. The village was small with a palace right in the center of it. It blended in with the snow around it in an attempt for a natural camouflage that worked. If she didn't know where to look she would've missed it. It was an astonishing work of architectural design, and she wondered if such things could be used to strengthen Konoha.

"Welcome to Yukigakure," A woman with dark hair greeted her and she stood at attention, "I am Kazahana Koyuki, the Daimyo of Yuki no Kuni."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kazahana-hime," Yuzuki bowed in respect.

"I wrote to your hokage because I know that Konoha has excellent shinobi," Koyuki explained, "I'm facing a troubling time right now, my Uncle still has some supporters within the walls of this village and I've been hearing rumors that they are planning another coup d'état."

"I will be acting as a body guard at all times," Yuzuki confirmed for the woman as she handed over a scroll she was told to give to the woman, "This is my Ookami partner, Kaede, she will also be working to make sure that no one attacks you while we are stationed here."

"It says here that you work within torture and interrogation," Koyuki said as she looked through the scroll, "You are here to just protect and not hunt them down?"

"I am at your disposal, while I would be good at hunting down the anarchist," Yuzuki said as she tried to think of the best way to put it, "I am also one of the best bodyguards for you."

"I wish for you to hunt down these anarchist as well as guard me, will you be able to do it?"

"Of course, hime."

"Good, for now you must dress the part of bodyguard to not alert my enemies for what you are here for."

Two hours later, Yuzuki stood beside the throne in a guard's uniform. The woman had allowed her costume designer to design all the uniforms within the village. She was stuck with frills in her sleeves and a hat that tied below the jaw. She looked like a weird Studio Ghibli character, and she hated every second of it. If it was a dress she could forgive it, she had a slight fondness to the Lolita style of dresses due to their different designs, but as it was she wanted to burn the damn hat on her head.

"You look so uncomfortable," Koyuki chuckled.

"I'm not a fan of the hat, hime-sama," Yuzuki quietly admitted as she fought the urge to scratch at an itch caused by said hat.

"Why'd you accept a mission so far away from your village?" Koyuki questioned.

"I messed up a relationship with my father figure and I might be forming feelings for a man eight years my senior and who was my first teacher," Yuzuki stated and the older woman blinked at that, "It makes sense now, huh?"

"How the hell did your life get so convoluted?" The woman muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose in disbelief, "You're only fifteen for kami's sake."

"I'm very aware of that, hime-sama," Yuzuki sighed, "I have a bad habit of staying inside my head and overworking when I shouldn't, it's not the first time that it's caused me troubles."

Koyuki couldn't help but see why. The teenage jonin was quiet, very few emotions slipped through the carefully weaved mask she wore and tended to think before acting. She wondered if the life of a shinobi would do that to someone. An interrogator would need to be aloof if they were to seem normal to those around them.

"Is the man at least good looking?" Koyuki questioned and the strangled sound she got from the teen caused her to grin.

It seemed she hadn't lost her ability to make the shinobi from Konoha flustered. The teen had such a blush on her face that it could possibly melt the snow outside from the heat that radiated from it. It was hilarious watching the girl try to formulate something to say in response to that.

Yuzuki covered her mouth with a hand as she looked to the side where Kaede sat. She couldn't believe the Daimyo! Of all the things she could've been asked, she just had to ask her if she thought Hayate was good looking. She didn't have an answer to that, for one he had been her teacher at some point. Lastly, she didn't want to give that information away.

"I think he is."

She did anyway. She felt the urge to slam her head into a wall for speaking her mind for once. She felt her blush growing worse, and her ears began to burn. This was something she would never put into her report when she finally gave it to Tsunade. The older woman would no doubt find it hilarious, just as the Daimyo was.

"I think we'll have a fun time together," Koyuki stated, "You'll still be here until next year, I now know the reason why your Hokage asked that you be allowed to train here."

Yuzuki sighed at that and let out a soft breath as she got her emotions under control. She wondered why she found it easier to talk to someone like Koyuki or Genma than someone like Kakashi or Hayate. She looked to the side as Koyuki talked to some of her people, she hadn't seen Kakashi in a while as well. Just what was the silver haired jonin doing? She hadn't heard of any matches against him and Gai, which was quite sad she enjoyed hearing about those.

She reacted when a man charged at Koyuki. She easily stopped him with a smack of her sheathed tachi. He went down with a surprised expression on his face and she sighed as she placed a pair of chakra suppressing cuffs on him. He was escorted away by one of the real guards. She took her place back next to the Daimyo who looked at her in surprise before smirking.

A kenjutsu master was in their midst, and no one was the wiser. The teen didn't look like a swordswoman, but the way she had handled that allowed her to see the way she could move. The strike was precise and hit a major area to make the man go down without much of a fight. It made her glad that the problem was already showing itself. An hour after she was done speaking with her people the jonin had informed her of some good news.

"Well, I now know where the rest of the anarchists are," Yuzuki informed Koyuki after she had gotten done with interrogating the prisoner, "I just need your approval to discreetly arrest them, or remove them."

"You have it, make sure it doesn't get back to the government," Koyuki affirmed, a slight frown on her face.

She was popular in her lands, the only reason why there were anarchist was because they wanted to go back to the old ways where the clans ruled everything, and the civilians were terrorized. She couldn't do that to her people. She wanted both to work together to help make the land strong. She was brought out of her thoughts by the teen bowing before vanishing from the room. She'd love to know how they did that; it was one of the few things that shinobi did that seemed fun.

Yuzuki stared down at the village from her vantage point on the tallest glacier outside of it. Kaede was sitting next to her and tilted her head in slight confusion. She let out a soft breath and white clouds billowed out. She had to liken what she was doing to the drug bust back in Konoha, this time it was people who wanted to remove the daimyo. She didn't like shutting people up when they had an opinion, but she didn't know why they wanted to remove the woman.

She cared about her people and it showed. She guessed that she didn't understand the way people thought sometimes, sure she "knew" how they thought but it was different than that. There was no logic to the idea of removing a daimyo who was good for the people. It just didn't read like a logical person, but then again what human was truly logical. Even she was completely illogical at the best of times.

"Let's start the hunt."

It took her less than two hours to hunt down all those that would oppose the Daimyo and take care of them. The majority were able to be taken in as conspirators to overthrow the Daimyo and charged for treason. She didn't know what they did for those that performed treasonous acts, but she remembered what they used to do back in the states. They hung them for such acts, and in France they used to use the guillotine, though that had been used during the French revolution.

Those that refused to come quietly were taken care of quietly. Poison that couldn't be detected was used, it was fast and made for a peaceful death. No one could get a true immunity to such a poison, but one could be safe from it for a day if they were immune to other poisons. She felt as though it was such an underhanded way to take care of someone, but she was a shinobi and she needed to ignore such thoughts.

"That was…quick," Koyuki stated as she sat back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, "Your hokage wasn't kidding when she said you were efficient."

"It's one of my specialties," Yuzuki admitted.

"I can see why you said you get caught up in your head and overwork yourself."

Yuzuki nodded at that and gave a short bow before heading to her guest room for the entirety of her stay. The bed was too plush, and the sheets were too soft. She wasn't used to such luxury, Genma and her had splurged on a nice couch for their apartments but never something that would cost too much to replace if it got ruined. She hadn't had such nice items around for over fifteen years.

She shook her head to ignore that thought and looked inside the drawers of the dresser she was told to use. Nightgowns upon nightgowns sat inside of it and she wondered if they thought that she could fight in a dress. She didn't know how, but she supposed there was no time like the present to learn how. She grabbed one, the heavy silk reminded her of the kimono she wore during her assassination mission, and quickly changed out of the white clothing she was wearing to blend in.

"Already ahead of me I see," She sighed as she spotted Kaede sleeping on the bed, "Goodnight, Kaede."

She smiled softly before climbing into the bed and curling up under the blankets. They were warm in the cool air and gave her some kind of peace. She stared at the lace cuff of the nightgown she wore and gently picked at it with her scarred fingers. Such fineries did not belong to a shinobi.

"You look like shit." Koyuki informed her the next morning as they both ate breakfast.

"How the hell do you sleep on such soft mattresses?" Yuzuki fired back with a frown, "I felt like I was drowning the entire night."

"You get used to them," The woman replied with a shrug, "You going to train?"

"Yes, I think I'll try training in one of the dresses your designer seems to think I need," Yuzuki sighed, "I might be able to move in them…is she aware that I'm a shinobi?"

"Oh yes, she even put the konoha symbol on it to replace your hitai-ate," The woman sighed, "Ignore her for doing that, I know how you guys feel about them."

Yuzuki gave a thoughtful nod at that and finished her breakfast quickly. Kaede met her outside after she was dressed. She smoothed down the front of her skirt and wondered if Lolita was getting popular, it seemed to be in Yuki no Kuni. She found that she did like the added petticoat, the frills made the skirt flow and gave it some style. She had to remind herself that it was a test to see if she could fight in the damn thing.

She was going to ignore the fact that the thing was made out of heavy-duty cloth that would withstand kunai attacks. She could even feel the metal plating inside the top of the dress that acted as a dress shirt. She ran a hand through her hair before pulling it up. She turned to Kaede and the Ookami gave her a wolfish smirk.

They were going to have a fun time training in the snow-covered glaciers away from the village. The took off, a few of the villagers watching them with slight trepidation, and hurried away. They didn't want to scare anyone with Lupa, the large Ookami could scare anyone to believe that the tailed beasts were on their way to destroy their village.

"Think we're far enough from the village?" She asked Kaede and got a bark, "Good, now let's summon Lupa-hime."

She bit her thumb and quickly called forth the leader of the Ookami. Lupa didn't seem surprised to see the teen, but was a bit amused to see the dress. She brought her head down and gently pressed her nose against the girl's face. It was a motherly action, something she did to all Ookami pups when they were near her.

"Why have you summoned me?" Lupa questioned.

"It's a long story, do you have time?" Yuzuki asked.

Lupa sat down and Yuzuki did as well. She quickly delved into the past two years and her training, her promotion and the falling out with Genma. Lupa listened as the teen tried to work through the heavy emotions that came upon talking about Genma. It was easy to see that the girl missed her father, more than anyone would ever guess.

"You can use one of the messenger Ookami to deliver letters to him," Lupa informed her, "But your crush on your former teacher is something you'll have to figure out, if you allow it to grow you might find problems in the future."

"Unrequited love, I know," Yuzuki sighed as she ran a hand down her face to get rid of the frozen tear tracks, "But I think it might be worth it, I could possibly _dazzle _him at twenty."

"You are a strange pup," Lupa informed her with a sigh, "You'd chance the pain of not having the one you love, love you back just for the one percent chance that he will."

"I'm stupid like that," Yuzuki nodded, "I guess some part of me is a hopeless romantic, but that's five years into the future, my feelings could change before then."

"Human emotions are so fickle," Lupa agreed, "But you know that an Ookami summoner feels deeply, that is why the Inuzuka have such deep bonds between each other."

"So, they are a branch of Ookami summoners," Yuzuki grinned at the fact that her theory had been right.

Lupa lightly pushed the girl over and she allowed herself to fall back into the snow. She was glad that the leggings she wore completely covered her skin and hid everything from sight. Her skirt had flipped up at that.

"There is a skill that you might be able to possess with your chakra control," Lupa informed her, "It is our sage mode, just as the frogs have theirs we have ours."

"Sage mode, huh," Yuzuki muttered, "It'll take over a year to learn, won't it?"

"Yes, and it isn't something to use without one of us, or Kaede, around," Lupa warned, "The Ookami sage mode must have one of the Ookami around to use sage mode, if not then the one attempting will either fail or die."

"Right, not trying to do the second option," Yuzuki grumbled as she scratched her head, "I'm willing to learn, but I also want to see if I can fight in this dress."

"You have more of them, don't you?"

"Koyuki-hime's designer made me thirty, it'd be a bit discourteous not to wear them."

"To even begin the training for sage mode one must train with the Ookami to learn how to fight as one, Yosuke must be summoned and then you will fight us with Kaede."

She did as the Ookami requested. Good news, she could fight in a dress with ease due to how it was designed, bad news is that she lacked coordination with Kaede. They fought for the entire week and they were still having trouble fighting as one, something that seemed to amuse the Ookami leader. She didn't see that the more the two of them got frustrated the more they worked in unison.

It was like a reverse her and Sakura. The two of them could work wonderfully together without being frustrated but when they fought they had trouble guessing what the other was going to do. Kaede and her were in harmony while calm but they couldn't fight. It was such a strange bond between them, but Lupa was going to fix it before she even thought of starting the two of them on Sage mode.

There hadn't been an Ookami sage since the time of the Nidaime, it was a strange thought to see one in the modern age. Lupa didn't want to inform the girl that if it got out that she could perform Ookami sage mode, then the Hime tacked onto her would be cemented and any of her kids would be called as such. She would become a celebrated figure within her village, and it was something that the others of her generation were going to have.

The blonde boy Naruto that Makoto had sniffed out during the invasion, she believed that he would become the greatest of them all. That Uchiha boy that Yosuke had heard the teen grumbling about was going to be second. Yuzuki and Sakura would be third. The two of them were going to become the well-oiled machine that Tsunade was pushing them to be. Two talented medics that could terrify those that would dare defy them with a backing in torture and interrogation. No one would want to mess with them. The idea that small women could destroy a mountain with a single punch was a terrifying thought.

They kept up with the rigorous training for a month, and Yuzuki was finding out a way to make time to spend with someone. Koyuki was slowly becoming one of her closest friends, though no one could top Ino -and Sakura as loathe as the Yamanaka was to admit- and Genma, and was teaching her different ways to accessorize that was tasteful to her features. Ino liked to put her in outfits that she would wear, and Hinata was in the same boat as she was of not knowing trendy fashion. Koyuki even pierced her ear, she now had a long earing that dangled from her right ear that had genjutsu seals etched into its surface.

Fashionable and practical. That's how Koyuki described it, and Yuzuki had to agree with her.

The boost in confidence had helped with learning how to fight with Kaede, that's where she had truly struggled. She had confidence in what she could do and not in herself. It even helped her to draft a letter to Genma and send it. She was still waiting to hear back from him, but she felt better at sending something to him.

She even got used to the bed, and that had helped to improve her mood considerably. Now she had elven more months to go before she could go home and face everyone. She stared up at the canopy that covered her bed and hoped that Genma would understand, and forgiver her. A letter was impersonal, but she liked being able to say her thoughts, and genuinely think them through. She closed her eyes and hoped that the next eleven months were just as productive as the first.

* * *

Genma looked at the small Ookami pup that had decided to slam into his stomach at four in the morning. He gave it a half-awake glare before noticing the small scroll it held in its mouth. He slowly took it out and the small thing curled up in his lap to sleep. He sent it an unamused look before opening the scroll. He almost closed it at once before noticing the crossed-out words and ink spills on the scroll. It was the first draft of a letter, something that wasn't usually sent. It wasn't like Yuzuki to send something like that, and it caused him to read it.

_Genma,_

_I know I messed up, trust me if I could get out of my head for more than five minutes and take a break it would've made everything different. But for some reason once I get into that mindset of always working, it is impossible to get out of. I should've told you that I was planning on taking the Jonin exams, but I didn't want to worry you even if it does sound like a really lame excuse, it's the truth. You are one of the few people whose opinion of me is worth something and matters to me. If I had failed I don't think I could've faced you, and no it's not because you have one of the best disappointed mom looks I've seen in a long time._

_ (_There was a large ink blot next to a word that was crossed out that he couldn't read)_ I'll be in Yuki no Kuni for the next year, it's a long mission that's mainly training. I don't know if you care that I left, but I thought I could tell you. Tsunade said not to say goodbye to anyone, but she didn't say anything about sending a letter (ha ha loopholes for the win! _he could read that through the line through it and it brought a small smile to his face). _I understand if you don't send anything back, but I want to say that I'm grateful for the time we spent together. I'm still proud to call you Father even if I am a pretty shitty kid. _

_ I never really got to have the whole family thing with an adult, my older brother didn't really count seeing as he was a giant man child (though I did love him dearly_ he snorted at that)_. Rose was more of my kid than anything and I got the chance to help raise a young mind, and hopefully she doesn't go down my line of work. I never really got to be a kid, and I didn't even take the chance to be one in a new life. That's on me, no one else._

He stared at that last paragraph and noticed the way the ink had blotted up. There was evidence that she had been crying and he felt guilty. The kid was beating herself up over something that could've been talked about. He shook his head and continued to read as he tried to push the guilt down.

_So again, thank you, Genma. It was nice to have someone there at my chuunin promotion that was proud of me. Even during my promotion to officer in my previous life no one had been there, Connor had been working and Rose was at a day care. I never knew that I wanted to make someone proud of me like that, and it was nice to have done so. _

_ I may have ruined everything, but I hope that if anything that we can still be friends._

_ Eternally cold,_

_ Yuzuki & Kaede._

_ P.S no I'm not being factitious it's fucking freezing here, Yuki no kuni indeed. _

Ah, he wanted his kid back. He set the letter down and ran a hand through his hair. They were both at fault for pushing each other away, every time she got ready to talk to him he would find a reason to put it off. She would do the same when she lost courage when he wanted to talk. They really were father and daughter sometimes, the both of them were idiots when it came to talking their feelings out. He gently woke up the Ookami pup and was welcomed to bright blue eyes staring up at him.

"You'll deliver my response, yeah?" He questioned.

He got a bark in response and he hoped that was a yes.

"You're lucky that I know how to make sealing scrolls," He muttered as he thought of something to send the kid to keep her warm.

Maybe a scarf or cloak, he knew she didn't have either of those. He smiled slightly; it was a step in the right direction to make up between them. He was safer asking Tsunade or Anko what the kid would like they were around her more often than he was. He still needed to make up for her birthday after all. Hell, he could ask Ibiki of all people.

He was totally going to ask Ibiki.


	29. Chapter 28

28

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_Kid,_

_We're both idiots, and that's okay. I might've overreacted and we both pushed each other away. For two people who aren't blood related we sure do act alike, huh? Yuki no kuni has some of the best area's to train, be sure to take full advantage of it while you're there. I'm still proud of you, you know. Jonin at fourteen is nothing to sniff at, you even beat your cousin Neji to becoming a jonin. _

_What I've sent to you is a care package from those of us who miss you. Meaning me, Ibiki (how the hell you made friends with him is a mystery but good going), and Hayate. He feels bad that the two of you haven't talked much, I told him not to. You two are quiet people so it's understandable that you get caught up in your heads sometimes._

_Keep doing me proud, yeah?_

_The best Dad who got you a late birthday present because he's an idiot._

_P.S please don't send an Ookami to wake me up at four in the morning, some of us really need the beauty sleep kid._

"He needs all the beauty sleep he can get," Yuzuki chuckled, "He's like thirty-two, he's not that old."

She couldn't help but smile at the fact that she finally got his letter. A few weeks after he wrote it. The Ookami pup that had been used as a messenger did take a while to get anywhere, but she couldn't fault it. The Ookami didn't really have any messengers that were young enough for long distance communication, so they had to start training a new pup. The fact that it woke Genma up at four in the morning was hilarious to her.

"He sent you a care package," Koyuki sounded amused as she looked at the items that had been sent, "He really is _the best dad_."

"Ah don't forget he's also _the best dad who got me a late birthday present because he's an idiot_," Yuzuki smiled, "I love him sometimes."

"Hayate's the one you like right?" Koyuki teased the girl.

"Oi."

That was all the confirmation she needed as the two of them cleaned up the items that had fallen to the ground when she unsealed the scroll for the letter. She hadn't been expecting items, so when a pack of chips fell onto the ground she knew that more was to come. Those had to have been swiped from Choji by Ino and she made a mental note to bring the boy back some recipes from Yuki no kuni. He deserved it for the chips, he never shared food willingly and it would be a fair trade.

"Oh," Koyuki chuckled as she held up a small book, "This is a romance novel, apparently your cousin Ino wants you to read it."

"I swear she's always trying to set me up on dates," Yuzuki quietly huffed as she accepted the book with a frown on her face.

Koyuki noticed the embarrassed expression on the other girl's face as she began to sort everything. Food went into one pile and was sealed back into the scroll. She'd go through it later and keep out whatever snacks she wanted. Things like gloves, apparently from Tsunade and Shizune with seals worked into them to add an edge to her genjutsu, were put in a pile to be kept out. A blue scarf with Ume flowers on it was from Hayate of all people, he had a note inside of it telling her to stay warm and she couldn't help the fond smile on her face.

Koyuki had wondered how a kid like her could have such a weird crush on an older man, but from the gift and note she gathered that he was nice. He was a genuine nice, and she knew that was rare in the shinobi world. Especially when one came from a clan like Yuzuki. Most shinobi men wanted what power they could get from the clan; it didn't matter how old some of the women were.

Some clans still practiced arranged marriages, though the practice was dying out, and as such there had been age gaps of ten to fifteen years. Yuzuki was glad that had stopped within the Hyuuga and had never been a thing with the Yamanaka. That had been a big issue with the Uchiha and Senju. Tsunade never shied away from the past of her clan and said that they would always do better than their past. In a way she was reminded of the royal families of Europe, and how they intermingled to the point where they were all related in some way. She was related to the Senju somewhere on the Hyuuga side.

"Who the hell sent you arm guards?" Koyuki questioned with a frown.

"Either Anko or Ibiki," She answered, "I think this was Anko, she wants to train again, and I can't wait to fight against her."

"Why?"

"She uses snakes, and she uses them in creative ways."

Koyuki left her to put everything away after that. She didn't even want to think about snake summons. She couldn't help but smile at the happier teen as she said a quick goodbye before heading off to train with Kaede. She was still wearing the dresses her designer made for her. She had a uniform that she'd wear out on the battlefield but when she was in a village or on a not so serious mission she was turning towards the dresses. The fact that she had a sealing scroll made to take them back with her, went without saying.

She was going to wear them around Konoha and deal with the teasing from Ino and Sakura. She was going to be popular with the boys that liked girls that were pretty and could be cute. Koyuki couldn't help but snort at that idea, yeah Yuzuki could be adorable if you were able to get her flustered. The red cheeks and ears made her have a more innocent air about her. Yet, any other time she was serious faced and downright cold to people.

Yuzuki smiled at the items surrounding her. Genma had put in things from other people, and things that people wanted to show her. It was sweet of him and did more than make up for any hard feelings. His present of a custom made tanto was a surprise to her. The sheathe was decorated with metal Umi blossoms and the hilt was wrapped in white silk. He didn't know who he asked for an idea of a gift, but she needed to make sure he knew that she loved it. The black blade could channel her chakra and she knew that it had been made by Tenten just by how professional and well-made it was.

She grabbed the tanto that rested on the small of her back and slowly slid it out of the silk that made up a makeshift baldric. She held it in her hand and gave a small smile, it was time she moved away from the student grade tanto and keep it in good condition for a future offspring or student. She placed the professional tanto in the baldric around her waist and sealed the old one in a scroll.

"Right, let's go train, Kaede," She said to the Ookami as she put the scarf on, "We have to get through our physical training."

Kaede gave a small woof at that and they headed out of the village to train again. Lupa and Yosuke were summoned, and they began their training. Lupa was glad their summoner could learn as fast as she did, soon her and Kaede were making attacks in unison. If the tachi was unsheathed Kaede would use it as a place to stand before the kunoichi used it to toss the Ookami towards an enemy. It was a good tactic to use against an enemy that wasn't expecting such a thing.

The iryo-jutsu's used to attack was something she never expected. All the previous Ookami summoners had been ninjutsu specialist. A genjutsu and iryo specialist was new to them. The way they got caught in the illusions was dizzying. They had trouble discerning what was real and what wasn't the changes to the environment were discreet. A piece of the glacier breaking beneath their paws allowing her to get some distance between them to think of her next move.

They truly continued like that for another month, Koyuki came out to watch one time and she didn't know who to root for. The Ookami leader radiated grace and demanded respect. It was easy to see why they allowed Yuzuki to summon them, she too demanded respect though not as obvious. She didn't have to sit too close to watch the fighting, something she was quite glad for when ice began to fly through the air as the glacier received a chakra enhanced palm strike.

The day Koyuki watched them, was the day they worked on close combat. Juken was being used along with the style that Tsunade had taught her. It was a bastardization of the two, something that she was slowly refining, but it worked. It broke the glacier around them and caused the rock underneath to be shown. It also distracted Yosuke and it allowed Kaede a chance to overpower the older ookami.

Lupa liked batting her tails at the teen, there were four of them and it made it seem like a six against two fight, and catching the edge of her skirts. The fact that she fought in a dress spoke volumes to the hypocrisy that she had shown as a preteen. She owed Ino and Sakura an apology. She now knew that those that fought in dresses and kimonos trained to do so. Temari could probably fight in a skirt as well due to training in one. It made sense that she had been proven wrong.

"You put my poor dresses through the ringer," Koyuki's designer stated as he ate dinner with them after that training.

"I'm sorry," Yuzuki apologized in slight confusion.

Was she not supposed to fight in them? She noted the glint in the man's eyes that told her that he was already thinking of a new type of dress that would withstand the abuse that she put it through. She had a respect for the man, anyone who could design in the world of shinobi and make a good career out of it was an amazing person. The people of Yuki no Kuni had accepted him with open arms, and if they could create a trade agreement with Koyuki such fashion could start showing up in Konoha. It would make sense that artistic trade could be done, a cultural agreement.

When she brought it up to Koyuki the older woman smirked in amusement. She rather liked that idea, and when she wrote to Tsunade about it the hokage had agreed to do treaty talks. A trade of culture for a trade of supplies, it was good for both as it brought funds to each village. The daimyo of yuki no kuni was trying to bring money into her country that wasn't from the movies they made.

Yuzuki couldn't help but liken them to Japan while everywhere else was like a different culture with Japanese influence. The militaristic states of the ninja villages she had been to, reminded her of the sparse history of china that she had been taught during her time in school. It also reminded her of the Mongolians who had taken over china at one point. She was possibly reading too much into it, she wanted that connection to her past so bad that she was putting labels on everything.

Lupa had warned her that she would go down a dark path if she couldn't let go of her past. Sure, she had the pictures of Connor and Rose, but there were certain things she had trouble releasing. Those accomplishments she had worked so hard to achieve were one of them. It kept her up at night.

One night she really thought about it was the night of a horrible blizzard. It had kept her from training for a week during her fourth month in yuki no kuni. She sat on a chair at the window; the hem of her long silk nightgown covered her feet, and watched as the snow flurried in the air. She was chilled to the bone and exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. She spared a glance towards Kaede and gave a soft smile to the ookami who was covered with heavy blankets to stay warm.

"Trouble sleeping?" She looked to see Koyuki standing at her doorway with a robe over her night clothes.

"Yeah, the blizzard was making things difficult," Yuzuki admitted as she slowly got up from her seat at the window, "The noise keeps me up."

"Me too," Koyuki admitted, "Hot chocolate, or hot matcha?"

"Matcha sounds good right now," Yuzuki quietly chuckled.

She grabbed her dressing gown and scarf and followed the older woman to the kitchen. She took a seat at the island counter and watched as she moved about and boiled some water and milk. It was domestic and she loved it. It reminded her of her time with Genma before she had delved so deep into her work that she ruined their relationship. She was starting to miss her dad now that she had pulled her head out of her ass.

"Mao seems to take inspiration from you," Koyuki informed her as she grabbed two mugs and started to make the drinks, "Any time we talk about fashion he pulls out sketches, he's amusing."

"I'm flattered…I think," Yuzuki said before frowning.

"You're flattered," Koyuki grinned before bringing the drinks over and sitting down next to the girl, "He's happy that he'll be able to show off his designs in a large village like Konoha, he's showing appreciation for it."

"Is that why he's still making me dresses?" Yuzuki questioned, "I think he made me a dress to wear to the ocean…I don't know if I'll ever have time to go to the ocean."

"Make a date of it with that man you like," Koyuki teased before growing serious, "When you're an adult of course."

"You are really gunning for us," Yuzuki commented in surprise.

"I know what it's like to love somebody and for them to not notice," Koyuki admitted, "You ever meet Hatake Kakashi?"

"Ah, Bakashi, yeah I know him," Yuzuki confirmed, "He's a beautiful man, but very aloof."

"Wait, you've seen his face?"

"It's a bonus of being part of the Hyuuga."

"And you like the one that isn't as handsome?"

The look she got from the teen was complete disbelief. She grinned into her cup of hot chocolate as the teen went to drink her matcha. To mess with a kunoichi was the best thing in the world, and to make her fall silent was even better. The matcha was quickly finished and the mug was washed.

"I think I'll shall try and sleep," Yuzuki informed her, "Try to get some as well, Koyuki-chan."

"Brat." Koyuki muttered as the teen hurried away, a light chuckle following her.

Yuzuki slowed her walk down and put her hands into the pockets of her robe. She really was exhausted; it wasn't like she wasn't able to get sleep. She didn't know why, but a part of her was afraid to go to sleep during the blizzard. Every time she tried she saw the invasion, which was an improvement over the battles of her past. She shook her head and tried to get her courage back so that she could sleep, she needed the energy to train if the blizzard finally stopped.

She entered her room, removed the robe, and tossed it over the chair that was still at the window. She climbed into bed, gently moving Kaede as she did, and huddled under the blankets. Kaede moved to where she would be easy to cuddle and plopped her face on top of Yuzuki's. The teen gained a slightly annoyed expression before sighing and closing her eyes to enjoy the warmth that radiated from the large wolf.

The sounds of the blizzard continued outside, but with the gentle breathing of Kaede in her ear it was easier to ignore it. She eventually fell asleep to dreams of the future, something that she would never tell anyone of what they were. Her mind did wake her up as she realized something.

Ah, Koyuki was able to weed that answer out of her without a problem. She admitted that she really liked Hayate. She cringed at that and closed her eyes in disbelief. Oh god, she was a problematic child. Or was she a problematic adult? She couldn't tell anymore.

"I wish things weren't so bleeding complicated," She grumbled to Kaede as she buried her face into the warm coat of the ookami, "It would've been nice to be reborn closer to his generation, but that's life I guess."

She never really contemplated why she had been reborn. She never asked for it, and she wasn't sure what the point was. Whatever had caused it thought, oh hey lets bring the captain of a cruiser into our world to fuck with her and then make her wonder what could've been. Let's make it so that she couldn't fall in love with someone from her generation, let's make it the coughing man that liked to be in the background of everything. If she ever met whatever, or whoever, had caused her to be reborn she was going to punch them in the face.

Her anger issues be damned, she didn't like being fucked with like this. She didn't appreciate the confusion. She didn't like the second go through of puberty where she didn't have any control over her emotions to the point where she was constantly fighting with herself.

She was reminded of the last time she had been stuck in a blizzard. She and Connor had rented a cabin up in Mammoth to enjoy the winter holidays and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. He had been able to sleep while she hadn't. She was stuck with her thoughts as she contemplated how much her life was truly worth. That had been before Rose, before she started to show that she wasn't as cold as her soldiers thought she was.

All of it was ruined by cancer.

_No matter how many plans you make or how much in control you are, life is always winging it_. Carroll Bryant was right about that, no matter what she did she felt that life threw wrenches at her. A part of her could hear that one quote from _Dodgeball _saying that if she could dodge the wrench she could dodge anything thrown at her. She felt better thinking that quote, like perhaps everything wrong about the world wasn't brought about her. Some of it she could blame Orochimaru and Kabuto.

The near death of Hayate was part of their fault, and part of his. He had tried to recreate the mission that was tasked to him with whoever he wanted to bring along, and had almost lost his life again. She held onto Kaede a bit more and tried to ignore that line of thought.

She had to force herself back to sleep.


	30. Chapter 29

**I have a new fic called red concerto! That one will not be updated as often as this one until this fic is over, but it will have new chapters! It plays on AU's with an Uzumaki Oc, one of which is my favorite AU where Kushina becomes Hokage instead of Minato. It's a bit like this one but doesn't go all the way to Kaguya. I just wanted to let everyone know. (It's also a Hayate/OC and Rin/Kakashi story since Kakashi deserves some love) This is a pretty short chapter, but I'm hoping the next one will be longer. I bet you can all guess at which part she comes back in, y'all are really smart.**

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29

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"Please go out with me!"

Yuzuki stared at the teenage boy that had shouted that at her as she walked around the village to find something to bring back for Genma. Her eyes were wide in complete surprise. That wasn't something she had been expecting from the boy. She scratched at her cheek, and wondered why he had chosen to ask her of all people. She'd never met him before.

"I'm sorry, but I must decline," She said as she gave a small bow as she tried to figure out a way to leave without seeming rude.

A bit unneeded seeing as she basically tore his dreams to shreds. He deflated slightly and his ash colored hair fell into his blue eyes before he lumbered away to his group of friends. One of the boys gave her an apologetic smile before patting the boy on the back in comfort. She slowly slipped into the shop she had been stopped outside of and took a deep breath. That had been new.

She'd never been asked out before.

Her cheeks turned a light pink as she became slightly flattered, but she quickly shook such thoughts away and looked around the store. She nodded at the shopkeeper who gave her a small smile. She walked around the different shelves and looked at what was for sale. It was a shinobi shop, something that didn't do well in the village even with the small clan that protected it. She stopped in front of a cloak and tested the material. Thick and waterproof, something that Genma could use in the future. She smiled and picked it up.

Yuzuki had barely been back in the daimyo castle when Koyuki raised a brow at her before grinning. She made a face as she realized that the knowledge of her declination for a date had spread through the village. Honestly, it felt like Konoha in that regard. She scratched at her cheek and went to put Genma's gift away in the scroll that held the clothing that Mao kept making her. Again, why he thought she'd be wearing white anytime soon was beyond her.

It made her skin even paler than it usually was. It also brought out the small scars that littered her skin. She ran a hand down her face and looked towards Kaede, they needed to train. They didn't have much time left to learn Ookami sage mode. Six months had passed, and she was sure that they had passed the point where they didn't need the physical training.

"Want to see if Lupa-hime will let us attempt sage mode?" She questioned.

Kaede looked at her as if she didn't need to ask. She smiled at that and the two went to their usual glacier to train. Lupa didn't look too pleased at being summoned during a down day but once Yuzuki explained that she was on a time limit, she understood. She was still a bit upset at being woken up during a nap, and the small kiss to the nose from the Kunoichi did not make her feel better. She lied, it made her feel wonderful she adored the kunoichi quite a bit. She was her pup.

"I want the two of you to meditate and try to reach out to your chakras," Lupa told them as the two sat down, "If you can make that connection then we can see where to go from there, sage mode is where you blend your chakra with the natural energy around you…Ookami sage mode requires that both summoner and Ookami be able to connect during the blending of the natural energy."

"Ready?" Yuzuki turned to Kaede.

They both began to meditate. It allowed the senses to reach out and feel the chakra around them. Yuzuki knew that making a connection between their chakras was going to be difficult, it might take the rest of the time they had to do so. She could see Kaede's chakra, it moved like waves which told her of its nature. Her secondary nature of water was going to help them form a connection.

Her primary nature was going to make it difficult.

Lightning was hard to control at the best of times, to mesh with water that she didn't have under her control was going to be hard. She felt something hit the back of her head and she moved away from such thoughts and worries. She needed to clear her mind.

A part of connecting chakra had to be about knowing one's chakra. She knew her chakra, but not as well as she would like. Good control helped with that, perfect did even better. She had that perfect control, but she didn't really explore it like she should be. Iryo called for it to be explored to help heal other people with it, and she had studied that. She understood it, but didn't really put much stock into it.

"_You think too much, Ru._"

She fell out of her meditation as her concentration broke. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she looked around in confusion. Why the hell did that come to the front of her mind. A nose being pressed against her face calmed her down.

"You're crying, pup," Lupa stated and Yuzuki brought a hand up to wipe at the tears with a frown.

"I was just reminded of something," She explained, "I was thinking too much."

Lupa nodded her head in understanding and laid down, her head in the girl's lap. She basically engulfed the girl, but the quiet chuckle she got out of her told her that she wasn't upset about it. A hand running though her fur made her close her eyes. Their summoner was brave for such a small creature.

"Try again," Lupa ordered, "You need to keep trying."

Yuzuki blinked at that and closed her eyes. Lupa was right, she needed to keep trying until she got it right. If she gave up now, then what was the point of her training so hard? It would discredit everything she had done up until now. She didn't want to admit that she thought that a lot when she felt like giving up. It was easier to think that and push through any frustration than to just give up.

Three months.

That's how long it took for them to make a connection. Under Lupa's watchful eye they had finally been able to connect their chakra. She didn't let them try Sage Mode, wanting them to train with their connected chakra to make sure that they wouldn't lose it while in the middle of a fight.

Fighting while connected was a strange experience. It was like seeing from two different vantage points. The byakugan allowed one to see through the area like a living x-ray machine but this was completely different. It had its pros, but with how disoriented it made her she felt it was t worth learning unless you really wanted sage mode. Huh, she now knew why the Inuzuka started training with their Ninken so early.

They quickly moved through the training that Lupa had set up for them.

It was the last month, and second to last day, when they finally got to sage mode. Yuzuki and Kaede had been fighting against Lupa when the large Ookami had used a lighting attack. Oh, she would have a field day learning her primary nature from the ookami, but sage mode was a bit more important at the moment.

That was when Lupa stopped them and told them to mediate and focus on the chakra around them. She wanted them to tap into that energy and use it to access their potential. She could feel the air become charged with chakra from the two. She could see the change in both Ookami and Kunoichi.

When pale lavender eyes opened, she was met with ice blue eyes instead. The two seemed to have gained a sudden increased in speed and she howled at the challenge. She brought forth her tails and happily fought between the two. They would only be able to do sage mode in spurts, it wouldn't be until they were a bit older and practiced more that it would last for longer. Their chakra reserves would grown and for once she paused and wondered if she was trying to create a kunoichi that would rival even the strongest enemy.

She knew that Naruto would never be the girl's enemy, but even that Uchiha would have trouble against her.

She watched as the two fell out of sage mode and landed on the glacier and put distance between them. Both were tired from using so much energy, but it was a right step for them. She felt pride as Kaede and Yuzuki stared her down, heavily panting but still able to fight.

"Congratulations on reaching sage mode," She told them, and they realized that the fight was over, "Get some rest, we'll train again tomorrow before you have breakfast."

Yuzuki gave her a small nod at that and Lupa went back to the ookami realm. It took the pair a while to get back to the daimyo's castle. Koyuki took one look at them before letting out a lady like snort. They looked like they had taken one hell of a beating.

"What'd you guys do?" She asked them.

"Lupa-hime, is one hell of a fighter," Yuzuki replied, "And sage mode is tiring, I need a bath or nap I'm not too picky right now."

"Will you even be eating dinner?" Koyuki asked her.

"Hopefully."

Well, that was the most she was going to get out of her. The teen looked so tired that she would happily sleep on the floor if that meant she could get some rest. Kaede seemed to be eyeing the floor and thinking about it, but decided that the soft bed was more preferable. She chuckled at the two and wondered if both girl and animal were of the same mind sometimes.

The bacon stolen from her plate in the mornings gave some evidence that they were.

Yuzuki relaxed in the bath for a good hour. It helped that she was able to perform some light iryo-jutsu to help relax her sore muscles. She still had the chakra to do so. Kaede was already sleeping on the bed and she didn't want to bother the ookami. Besides, her sleep schedule was going to messed up upon returning to Konoha, the most she could do for herself was try and keep it on track.

"I wonder how everyone's doing," She muttered to herself as she relaxed in the hot water and crossed her arms across her chest.

She wondered if Naruto was back yet and if he had gotten taller or stayed the same height. She would feel horrible if he was still the smallest out of all of them. Then again, he could be a late bloomer that would have his growth spurt towards the later teen years. Even with understanding it, the human body was still a weird thing.

She was getting off track, she smiled at that. It wasn't like she had changed that much. She still wore the torture and interrogation uniform unless it was required that she wear her jonin uniform. She had a feeling that she was going to have to wear it in the village, something was going to happen.

She had a gut feeling about it.

She didn't like the fact that something bad was going to happen to her home. She looked down at her legs through the water and saw the small scars that crisscrossed her skin. She had people in Konoha that she wanted to protect. Yuna, Hinata, Ino, Genma, Hayate, Sakura (she'd never admit that to the pinkette), Naruto, Anko, Ibiki, Kotetsu and Izumo, and Konohamaru. She couldn't really do that if the village was constantly under threat of attack.

She heard a knocking at her door, and she sighed before getting out of the bath. She drained the water and quickly changed. She walked up to the door and opened it with a slight frown. A man in a guard's uniform stood before her and she became serious. If he was bothering her before dinner than something must be wrong.

"You have a delivery." He informed her.

"You aren't a delivery boy," She sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Yuzuki-sama," He gave her a tiny smile, "I had nothing better to do and my shift was ending."

He handed her a small package and gave her a small bow. She gave her a tiny smile and bowed back before closing her door. She could hear him walk away and she sighed in relief. The men in the building were intense, it was like being surrounded by fifty Lee's that were always serious.

She looked at the package and activated her byakugan to see if there was anything to be worried about. She frowned when she found nothing, but the object inside. It was…clothing? She slowly opened it and saw a pair of thigh high stockings inside.

Well, it wasn't from Mao he always made her leggings out of spandex and used a decorative cloth to match her dresses. Her favorite pair was star themed, and she made sure that he knew it. He appreciated feedback since it allowed him to know what a client liked or disliked, and she understood that.

She placed them on the dresser and decided to throw them in the ocean. She didn't know who sent them and she didn't know where they'd been. There were a lot of strange people in the world and she didn't want to be bothered by them.

Dinner was quiet since she was starting to feel the effect of sage mode hit her. The extreme exhaustion hadn't been as bad in the bath, but she suspected it was because of the hot water. She ate her dinner comprised of salmon and udon noodles before heading to bed. She had to move Kaede so she could fit in it, but the ookami was so tired that she didn't even react.

She didn't even have any dreams; she was so tired. Even though her dreams were strange, or she had nightmares, she still enjoyed feeling like time was passing.

Even as the first ray of light from the sun hit her face, she was annoyed that she didn't have any dreams. She slowly opened her eyes and realized that it was her last day in Yuki no kuni, she'd be leaving at noon. She grumbled as she got up and woke Kaede. They had to train with Lupa one last time before they left.

* * *

She had some good news; sage mode wasn't as tiring the second time. Koyuki had given her a backpack and cloak to hide her new clothes from prying eyes when she walked into Konoha and had told the girl to visit any time she was in the area. The two had parted on wonderful terms and the daimyo had waved the girl off at the docks.

Yuzuki took in a deep breath and enjoyed the salty scent of the sea. She had tossed in that strange gift she had received and felt better for doing so. It did lessen the churning of her stomach, but not by much. Something was still bothering her, and after not hearing from Tsunade or Genma for half a year she was starting to worry that they didn't want to send her information that could be intercepted.

She understood that worry, and their reasons. She'd just have to ask them once she finally reached Konoha. She had quite a bit to ask them, one of which was when she was going to learn Tsunades seal. The strength of a hundred was a mark to the apprentices that both girls wanted to learn. It would show everyone who had taught them, just like the tachi and tanto she wore was a symbol to konoha that she had learned Kenjutsu under Hayate. He had a specific form and watching her fight with her tachi showed the exact form.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds before deciding to stay inside the ships cabin for the rest of the trip, she was starting to feel a little sea sick.


	31. Chapter 30

30

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"Isn't Yuzuki-chan supposed to come back today?" Izumo asked Kotetsu as they manned the sign in desk at the gate.

It was a normal station for them when there weren't any prisoners to interrogate due to Anko. Both men disliked that fact, but they sure as hell weren't going to let the purple haired jonin know that. She was terrifying even to those she liked. They were starting to think the only person who wasn't bothered by the kunoichi was Yuzuki, who could make a crater out of a single strike.

"Yeah, I think before noon," Izumo answered, "Unless something happened to the ship she was on, Yuki no kuni has some temperamental weather."

"Sounds about right, and the cold is an absolute bitch." An amused voice agreed with them.

Their expression brightened as they jumped at the appearance of Yuzuki and Kaede. She was wearing strange clothes that seemed to be made for her and her hitai-ate was on the top of her head instead of her forehead. It was like her time away made her more feminine and they didn't know how to feel about that. This was their small kohai who had gone through a growth spurt.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Kotetsu asked.

"The designer for the Daimyo took a shine to me and it would be discourteous to not wear them," She answered, "He made me combat dresses that are still stylish, Mao-san's hoping that they'll catch on when he comes to Konoha in a month."

"Aw, you look adorable," Izumo teased the teen and she simply raised a brow at that.

"Wow, that's weak compared to Koyuki-chan," She chuckled in amusement, "That woman's just as bad as Tsunade-shishou, speaking of which I really need to report in."

"Right, see you around, Yuzu-chan." Kotetsu nodded.

She gave them both a smile before rushing off with Kaede on her heel. They both shared a look; she had mellowed out during that year away. She also stood at their shoulders, and she wasn't even wearing heels. They had a feeling that Genma was going to be surprised when he finally saw her.

"Ume!" A shout from behind caught Yuzuki's attention and she paused in her tracks.

"Bellflower!" She greeted back with a grin.

Ino slammed into her and embraced the taller blonde, oh yes. Ino could tell that her hair had lightened over the year, even if the other girl didn't see it. She had wondered if she was going to lose the blonde in her hair and be a brunette or if the Yamanaka genes would win in the end. She couldn't help but feel victory over the other clan.

"Oh kami, look at you," Ino chuckled, "You really blossomed, and where'd you get the dress?"

"Mao-san made it, he'll be in konoha in a month or so as a part of a trade agreement with Yukigakure," Yuzuki informed her with a smile.

"Trade agreement?" Ino questioned before putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, "Just what the hell were you doing in Yuki no kuni, you were supposed to be training."

"I was," Yuzuki defended, "But I mentioned that a trade agreement would be beneficial to both villages and the daimyo agreed."

Ino huffed at that reply and put her hands on her hips to try and stare down the taller teen. She was finding it difficult as Yuzuki smiled at her in slight amusement. That smile was infectious, and she found herself returning it. She shook her head before sighing.

"Go and report to Tsunade-sama," Ino told her, "I'll make sure to snag you for dinner with everyone."

"Right, I'll make sure to tell my story then," Yuzuki agreed.

Ino paused as the girl took off towards the hokage tower again, Kaede had gone on ahead of the kunoichi and greeted the girl with a bark as they continued to see the blonde hokage. Ino thought she was going to have to drag the pale girl to a barbeque place, but she had easily accepted. She smiled at the change and realized that she truly had blossomed in such a place as Yuki no kuni.

She could say that her leaving the land of snow was much like the winter turning into spring, but she wasn't that crazy yet. It sounded like something her father would say to mess with her mother. She smiled at that thought and turned to go find Choji to tell him the good news.

"Someone's here to see you, hokage-sama."

Tsunade looked up at the interruption to her paperwork and saw a familiar face. She smirked at the appearance of one of her jonin and motioned her in. Her secretary closed the door and allowed the two women some privacy.

"Am I on time?" Yuzuki questioned with a slight tilt of her head.

"Yeah, you have yet to reach Hatake levels of uncaring," Tsunade teased and the teen chuckled, "It seems like training did you a world of good, I didn't even know you knew how to wear a dress."

"Learning to fight in one was easier than I thought, I owe Ino and Sakura an apology for criticizing their clothing choices as genin," Yuzuki admitted, "It's good to see you again, Tsunade-Shishou."

"Right, but now I want your report," Tsunade informed the teen and she watched as the girl stood straighter and turned into the perfect Kunoichi, "We can celebrate later."

Yuzuki delved into the year of training she had gone through and the completion of her mission. She was telling the hokage about the trade agreement when the door opened. She didn't even react and continued like it was a normal occurrence. Sakura was surprised to see the other kunoichi inside the office and let a small smile slip onto her face, it was nice to have something good happen after a bad incident.

"Sounds like quite the year," Tsunade sighed, "It's good to hear that Koyuki is just as she is in letters."

"She teased me just as much as you and the trouble twins combined," Yuzuki admitted, "She's good at getting under one's skin without trying."

"It's good to have you back, Yuzuki," Sakura told the taller girl, "Also, interesting choice of clothing."

"Ah there's the dig from when we were genin," Yuzuki chuckled, "Yeah, I was wrong about dresses, it takes quite a bit of training to fight in one."

Sakura smirked at that and the taller girl rolled her eyes. Kaede let out a yawned and Sakura took that as her chance to hug the giant ookami that now stood at her ribcage. No one had expected the two tailed ookami to get as big as it was.

"Go home and put everything away," Tsunade ordered Yuzuki, "I'll send word of your next assignment and wear your flack jacket over the dress when on duty, we do have a dress code."

"Yes, Shishou."

Yuzuki put a hand on Kaede and hiraishined from the office and into her apartment. She let out a tiny sneeze as her sudden appearance stirred up the dust that had made its home in her apartment. She moved towards a window and pushed it open to help air it out. She turned to Kaede and soon they had cleaned the apartment together. Everything was all put away and she had put on her flack jacket. It didn't clash with the dress and she knew that Mao had made sure that it wouldn't.

She sat on her sofa and stretched her legs out in front of her, it was nice to be back in her own home. A person jumping in through her window was enough to cause her some annoyance. She stared at a surprised Genma as a hassled looking Hayate glared at him.

"Honestly, if someone had broken in here it would've been one hell of a job for the cleaning crew," Yuzuki informed Genma as she stood up from the couch, "Be glad I deactivated the seals on the windows while cleaning."

"Did you get taller?" Genma questioned, "Why'd you have to go and get taller?"

"I told you that one day I'd be tall enough to throw you," She replied in amusement as she moved to make tea, "You thought I was joking, I was being serious."

"Are you still going to throw me?" Genma teased.

"No, but please make yourself at home," She chuckled as she started to boil the water, "I'm on standby until further notice."

She realized that Hayate had been quiet the entire time and looked at him. He seemed to be confused by the dress and quickly looked away when he realized he had been caught staring at it. Surprisingly, Genma hadn't even reacted to it much to her disappointment. She was hoping that he would start something so she could see that he hadn't changed much.

"So, what was Koyuki-sama like?" Genma questioned.

"She was really pretty," Yuzuki answered, "Smart too, she thought it was hilarious if I came back soaked due to training."

"Soaked?" Hayate asked.

"I may or may not have broken a couple of glaciers," She admitted as she poured the tea and took a seat at her dining table, "Lupa-hime broke like three though, and it was terrifying."

"Your summons is terrifying, just look at how big Kaede got." Genma pointed out and Kaede let out a series of barks at that.

"She said don't bring her into that category, she's still as sweet as a puppy," Yuzuki translated before taking a sip of her tea, "Which is a lie, she's the ultimate bed hog."

Kaede snorted at that and Yuzuki smirked. At least the ookami knew she was joking. She was staring at the ookami and missed the look that Hayate and Genma shared.

They weren't sure it was the same person. This one wasn't as full of angst as she had been when she left. Even the clothing, from traditionally masculine to feminine. It was such a change that neither had predicted. Genma was glad that she still seemed to be herself, just the teasing she sent him and Kaede was enough for him to know. Hayate on the other hand, didn't know what to do with a Yuzuki that was this confident and sure of herself.

She wasn't really a kid anymore and more like an adult, and that worried him. She didn't get to experience childhood for a second time and had rushed right into adulthood without a second thought, but that didn't seem to be true as he stared at her. She had that childish element to her as she chatted with Genma. She seemed to realize he was studying her, and she sent him a wink before turning back to Genma with a grin.

He truly didn't know what to do with her.

"Are you returning to hospital duty?" Genma questioned her.

"If that's where Tsunade-Sama stations me then yeah, otherwise I'm in the interrogation cells all day," She answered with a tiny frown.

She looked towards the window and a hawk flew overhead. Everyone in the apartment knew that was a summons by the hokage. The tea was left on the table and Kaede stood up with the humans. It didn't take long for the kunoichi to get her weapons together and leave with the two jonin. However, it did take a while for Tsunade to explain what was going on.

Akatsuki, red moon.

She hadn't heard of that terrorist group, but apparently they had hunted down the Kazekage. She frowned at the name that was supplied to her by a quietly whispering Genma. Sabaku No Gaara, it seemed as though he had changed for the better. He had to have Naruto as inspiration, and she was glad that he did. If anyone could make a village better it was someone who was scorned by it and knew what needed to be changed.

Jinchuuriki, the term sounded familiar and she made a mental note to questioned Lupa or one of the Ookami that knew history. She thought more about the name and mentally translated it. Human sacrifice? No, it was power of human sacrifice. It had something to do with the tailed beasts.

Were the Akatsuki after Naruto? He held the Kyuubi within himself. She frowned slightly at that thought. She didn't like it. Anyone that would go after someone like him was a person she wouldn't be friends with.

"Do any of you have questions?" Tsunade asked the jonin that stood before her and one rose his hand, "What is it?"

"Chiriku, a former member of the twelve shinobi guardsmen, should've been there too," Sarutobi Asuma stated, "What happened to him?"

"Chiriku-sama died," The monk next to Tsunade said, "By the hands of those two scoundrels."

Sarutobi gained a shocked expression and Genma sent him a look of understanding while Hayate's shoulders tensed. Yuzuki gathered that whoever Chiriku was he had been strong, strong enough to gain the respect of several jonin. She bit the inside of her cheek in thought and looked towards her mentors. Quite a bit was happening, and she hadn't even been back an hour.

"I would like to find out about their plans," Tsunade admitted, "But this group is dangerous, so in the event that capture becomes impossible I want you to eradicate them, don't let them out of Hi no Kuni no matter what!"

Tsunade looked at the jonin in front of her and couldn't help but wonder if she was sending them out on a suicide mission. She paused on one of her precious apprenticaes and noted the way the girl was thinking. She looked towards the youngest Nara and noticed that he was looking at his sensei. Those two jonin were going to cause her trouble.

"Dismissed!" She ordered and she sent Yuzuki a look to stay behind.

Several jonin took off and Genma paused when Yuzuki stayed in place. She sent him a strained smile and shook her head. He was needed elsewhere. Hayate gently elbowed him in the side and he let out a soft sigh. He really wanted to celebrate her return and a mission with her and Hayate seemed like the best way.

He guessed it wasn't meant to be, and he'd have to take his kid out for some dango…Hayate never did buy her the dango he promised.

"You wanted to talk to me, Tsunade-shishou?" She asked the older blonde.

"I want you to start storing chakra in a yin seal on your forehead," Tsunade ordered her, "I already gave Sakura this task months ago, it's your turn."

"Yes, ma'am," Yuzuki nodded, "Is there anything else?"

"Stay in the village."

Yuzuki seemed surprised by that and tilted her head. Why did she have to stay in the village while everyone else was putting their lives on the line? It didn't make sense and she couldn't help but wonder if Tsunade's emotional attachment to her was causing this. She felt touched at the thought, a bit annoyed but touched, nonetheless.

"Would you be willing to take on a genin team?" Tsunade questioned.

"Maybe in the future when I'm older and have some kids of my own," Yuzuki admitted, "For now, I like being able to go from one mission to the next without worry of protecting someone important."

"Heh, sounds a lot like me when I was your age," Tsunade chuckled before shaking her head, "Fine, I need you to keep an ear out around the village for any information regarding the Akatuski."

"Right, want me to be discreet or obvious about it?" Yuzuki asked.

"Let's put your info gathering to the test," Tsunade answered, "Be discreet, I give you permission to skim people's minds for information about the group but only those you deem likely to have the information."

Yuzuki gave a nod at that. She didn't like the idea of going through the head of someone from the village, but an order was an order. She could tell that Tsunade didn't like it either.

"Dismissed, and would you go eat something you look ready to drop."

She bowed at the older woman and jumped from the rooftop like the jonin before her. She decided to go to the dango stall that was near the village gates, it was the best place to gather information and get something to eat. She was following both orders.

As she munched on the strawberry dango she listened to everything around her, Kaede did so as well. She learned the gossip of Konoha and gained information about the village that had surprisingly changed since she left for a year. Konohamaru was now a genin and doing missions, quite a few people were proud of the "honorable grandson". Kurenai and Asuma were officially an item, though they liked to act as if they weren't.

"Is this seat taken?" She looked towards a Sakura that looked deep in thought.

"Go for it, just let me order another plate of dango and some mochi," Yuzuki said with a small smile and waved a waitress down to do so, "What's on your mind?"

"We failed to get Sasuke back," Sakura admitted.

"No more Kun, huh," Yuzuki commented on before letting out a soft sigh, "Not every mission is going to a success you know that."

"But…"

"You still care for him, yet it's different from when we were kids," The blonde continued with a frown, "He's not worth your time, but I suppose you can't help who you care for."

Sakura looked at the blonde and realized that the other girl finally knew what it was like for her. She still cared for a boy that would never give her the time of day, oh sure she had grown past that infatuation that would lead her to stalk him and hope to be the next Uchiha matriarch. She now loved him as a brother.

"Are you free to train?" Sakura questioned.

"Well, I'm supposed to be gathering information and eating," Yuzuki chuckled, "How about after this last plate of food, yeah?"

Sakura smiled at that and knew that the other girl would be able to multitask. She had chosen a wonderful spot to listen for any information. But the stand usually closed after three. She took one of the dango and felt a bit better as she spent some time with her rival in everything but love.

"I want you to go all out on me," Sakura informed the other girl, "Even if you beat me mercilessly it'll allow me to see where I need to improve."

"Then let's begin."

Sakura smirked and got ready as the blonde charged at her. She blinked quickly and the other girl was suddenly gone. She jumped out of the way of a juken strike and watched the ground completely cave under the light hit. The blonde had grown even stronger than she was before she left. She could never beat her, even then. She swiftly dodged each juken strike and jumped over a leg kick.

She was barreled into by Kaede, the ookami had been so small a year ago that it never crossed her mind that the two would have figured out a way to fight as one. Their spar was over the minute it started, and she stared up at the blonde that loomed over her.

"I hate you," She huffed, and a chuckle reached her ears as a hand was held out to her.

"Do you feel better?" Yuzuki questioned.

"A bit," Sakura admitted, "But it also shows that I need to up my training."

"I believe in you," Yuzuki admitted, and she looked at a small snake that had entered the area, "But I need to get going, I'm being called in by the department."

Sakura knew what she meant by that. Anko's summons were easy to identify. The other girl vanished from the area with Kaede, no doubt going to change into the proper uniform before heading over to the torture and interrogation department.

"You're on standby until we get someone, brat," Anko informed the blonde as she met up with her kohai, "You still able to make people writhe in fear?"

"I took down a rebellion while in Yuki no Kuni, I believe that I can still easily scare a man," Yuzuki admitted with a sweet smile that was borderline sadistic.

Ah, Anko was glad she was back and gave her a sadistic grin in response to those words. She was hoping that they'd get a lead soon so that the girl could go out in the field and get some action. Being away for a year and being thrust into a terrorist situation wasn't the best for anyone. She tugged on the long locks of the teen and watched as the girl sighed.

"I know, it's gotten long."

"What's this I'm hearing about dresses?"

Anko was then welcomed to a long explanation of the dresses and felt the need to see one. Apparently, they had been a bigger hit than her homemade clothes. The fact that the teen had moved to dresses showed her that the daimyo of Yuki no Kuni had brought out a hidden feminine side that no one had been expecting, or thought existed.

"Start keeping some senbon in there," She instructed as she tugged on the blonde strands again, "When you go out on a mission it'll be a nasty surprise for anyone who dares grab onto it."

Little did she know that Yuzuki was also going to poison them with a substance that would cause the attacker to be paralyzed long enough to meet a quick end by her tachi. It was a bold move for any Kunoichi to use due to the fact that it would be just as easy to poison herself. She was lucky that she was immune to the specific poison that she planned on using. Becoming immune to it had been a trial of tears and sickness, and she was glad that part of her life was over. She didn't fancy going through that a second time.

She said goodbye to the purple haired shinobi and wondered why she felt like something bad was going to happen. Even as she laid down and tried to sleep in her own bed, it was smaller than she remembered, her body and mind kept screaming at her that something bad was going to happen.

Two days later was Sarutobi Asuma's funeral and that feeling cemented itself even more as she stood with Genma and Hayate in the rain as everyone paid him a last farewell. She rubbed the back of her neck in thought and became worried that things were going to get worse for a long time until it finally got better, and she didn't like that.

She didn't like it one bit. And as the rain drenched her to the point where her hair clung to her face, she couldn't help but make an oath to the recently deceased man to help keep his team safe. Ino was on his team and she'd do anything to keep the other girl safe.


End file.
